As the Seattle Seahawks NFC Championship celebration took over the city, Mike Macdonald’s now viral quote echoed loud and clear.
“We did not care.”
“WE DID NOT CARE” pic.twitter.com/DPMRleTNg2
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 26, 2026
When asked how it felt to beat the preseason-favorite Rams and 49ers to go to the Super Bowl, he used those four words to respond to the outside noise.
“It’s about what we do.”
Macdonald’s Seahawks have embodied a stoic mentality all season. It showed up on the field as they dealt with adversity. After an injury-riddled September, they had new stars emerging every week in their place. After losing two of the first five games, they’ve gone 13-1 including the playoffs. After losing to the Rams in November, with Sam Darnold’s poor performance giving detracting narratives new life, they beat them twice down the stretch to win the NFC in the biggest moments. Through it all, Macdonald and Darnold continued to praise the weekly work. Controlling what they can control. Eliminating emotions from outside events. They taught Marcus Aurelius’ original brand of stoicism straight from the textbook. So when they got up to the podium last night, they had no interest in giving explosive quotes. They stayed boring in their talking points, and became the most exciting, revolutionary team in the NFL this season.
“This is a heck of a job.”
Regardless of the Super Bowl’s result, you can bet on the Seahawks’ leaders staying stoic in their approach. They won’t be fired up like Sean McVay was on the sideline last night, or outwardly showing their emotions as Pete Carroll did. They’ll show them all within the confines of the game itself. That is a thing of beauty that shows just how blessed Seattle is to have them.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: “We did not care”: stoicism made Seahawks NFC Champions