Menu
Franchises

Eat, Drink And Be Wary? Patriots Rush To Clarify Brady's Tailgating Comments

After Patriots QB Tom Brady yesterday advised fans to "start drinking early" before Sunday's home opener, the team released a statement seeking to clarify his comments. Brady, when asked yesterday if he had a message for fans heading to the game against the Chargers, said, "Yeah, start drinking early. ... Get nice and rowdy. 4:15 game, lot of time to get lubed up. Come out here, and cheer for the home team." The Patriots in a statement said Brady meant "stay hydrated, drink a lot of water" (THE DAILY). Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said Brady "didn’t mean anything by" his comments, and he "just wants fan to get really fired up." Cowlishaw said, "We all know you say things on radio you don’t say on television or put them in a newspaper. This is what happens, and then the Patriots have to come in and clean it up." However, he added Brady is "not telling the people to do anything really stupid." ESPN.com's Jackie MacMullan said Brady "misspoke," and he "probably realized it about two seconds after he did it." MacMullan: "Not the kind of thing you want to promote in your own stadium. Good for (Patriots Exec Dir of Media Relations) Stacey James for cleaning it up” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 9/14). In Providence, Kevin McNamara writes Brady "put his foot in his mouth" with his comments yesterday (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 9/15). FOXSPORTS.com's Greg Couch writes under the header, "Should Brady Catch Heat Over Comment?" Couch: "There is no way Brady would have been so irresponsible as to promote pregame drinking now." There were an "estimated 59 fights in the stands" of Monday's Patriots-Dolphins game, which comes a month after "two men were shot" at the Raiders-49ers preseason game. Tailgating and "pregame parties stretch forever from nearly every stadium," but players and coaches "shouldn't be egging it on" (FOXSPORTS.com, 9/15).

MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLE HILL: ESPN's Trey Wingo said of Brady's comments, "That was perfectly innocuous, right? Sort of funny. But the Patriots felt the urge to release a clarifier.” Wingo: "We probably wouldn’t have run the soundbite had we not had the clarifier from the New England Patriots” ("NFL Live," ESPN, 9/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Chris Chase wrote, "Good work, Patriots PR flacks. Way to draw attention to a comment that was thoroughly noncontroversial" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/14).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/09/15/Franchises/Patriots.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/09/15/Franchises/Patriots.aspx

CLOSE