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).
