MMQB Review: Catching Up With the Bradys

Last week was a pretty slow week and Peter King's MMQB reflected that. This past week hasn't been as exciting as the regular season normally is, but there have been a few events that happened. The same Brian Cushing who tested positive for banned substances prior to last year's draft was suspended four games this week for testing positive for a substance banned by the NFL, along with some other stuff. Sean Payton denied and changed the subject when asked about the drug theft with the Saints. Then the Saints re-signed Jahari Evans and signed Darren Sharper to get a positive focus on the team.

Today in Peter's MMQB, we catch up with Tom Brady, which is important because we haven't heard from Brady in three whole months. What's going on with his life? Are things different? More importantly from Peter's perspective, how does he feel about this Patriots team? If I recall correctly, Peter caught up with Tom Brady last offseason around this time too to see how his recovery from knee surgery was going. I am sure he tries to catch up with every team's quarterback and not just those who play for his local team.

The disgrace of two former New Jersey heroes and one from LSU headlined the week -- and yes, I believe any award or postseason honor, including rookie of the year, should be stripped if a player tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, as apparently is the case with defensive rookie of the year Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans.

Brian Cushing, you are out Peter King's phone. No more late night text messages for you. That'll learn ya' to try and use PEDs.

I'm leading with Tom Brady breaking his offseason silence to discuss his bi-coastal life, hopes for his team, a charity he is very bullish on and how much his world has spun in the past few years.

Great, because I am pretty sure Peter writes for Vanity Fair or Good Housekeeping, so this whole "catching up with Tom Brady" thing fits in perfectly for a non-sports magazine like this.

Next week: In the kitchen with Matt Schaub. Learn his thoughts on the right way to make a good casserole and how he is willing to help his wife with chores around the house.

But he surfaced Saturday to talk for a half-hour because he wanted to promote a passion of his -- the 11th annual Audi Best Buddies Challenge: Hyannis Port, a flag-football game (he'll be quarterbacking) at Harvard on June 4 and a bike ride from Boston to Cape Cod the next day.

A half-hour of Tom Brady is all Peter King wants or needs. Give him a half-hour and that is a half-hour of heavenly buddying around with Brady for the Kingster.

The Brady football headlines:

Great, because I hadn't heard anything about the Patriots in almost a week. What's up with Peter's favorite team I wondered? I was beginning to panic when I hadn't heard anything. No worries, Peter is here to give us a full run-down of how the team looks after the draft and the first part of the offseason. I really need to know the strengths and the weaknesses of this Patriots team...like right now.

He will be back in Foxboro this morning to resume work in the Patriots' offseason program. But he's not been a regular in the program thus far. Brady used to win awards for his attendance and fervor in the offseason program, but he said he has spent two weeks in the program since it began in mid-March. File this under the "life changes'' category. The son he had with Bridget Moynahan, Jack, turns 3 in August. Benjamin Brady, his son with Bundchen, is 5 months old. Brady sounds like he'll be as much of a full-time dad as he can be while shuttling between Los Angeles and Boston.

It is quite difficult to be a father full-time when you only have February to June off every single year and don't have to show up at work fairly often in the interim. Not to mention, the whole "having a shitload of money" thing also probably makes it difficult to do whatever you want to see your kids. Good luck Tom. You are braver than any other father in this country.

He said he's been throwing "quite often'' on the West Coast to a rehabbing Wes Welker, recovering from knee and rotator-cuff surgeries. He made no predictions about when Welker would be ready to play, and was unspecific about how much Welker is doing now. But Welker is only three months removed from major surgery to his knee and shoulder, so it'd be a shock to see him early in the season. "He was an undrafted free-agent and has had to work for anything he's ever gotten,'' Brady said. "So don't put anything past him.''

Welker was an undrafted free-agent, so he has had to work hard for everything he has ever gotten. This is different from the other players in the NFL like Calvin Johnson and Andre Johnson who are just magically great football players and never have to work at it at all to get where they are. Hines Ward barely even has to work now because football is just so easy for him and I am not sure if Steve Smith (both of them) have even gotten off their couch since the season ended. If only Welker was so unlucky and didn't have to work for everything he has gotten because he was an undrafted free-agent.

Not that Welker hasn't worked hard, but there is always this idea going around the undrafted players work harder than players who were drafted. Undrafted free-agents do work hard, but I don't believe they work really significantly harder than players who were drafted highly.

He's not down over the team not adding a significant running back or wide receiver (other than the aging Torry Holt and third-round pick Taylor Price) to a team that needs an offensive boost with Welker's status in doubt. "I like [2009 injured draft pick] Brandon Tate a lot, and Julian Edelman was so effective for us last year, plus having [free-agent] David Patten back is going to help. The two tight ends we drafted [Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez], from what I hear, are really good players,'' he said.

When Peter said he was "catching up with Tom Brady," he meant "I am going to use my conversation with Tom Brady to try and get away with doing a review of the Patriots offseason in my MMQB since they are my favorite team."

I rail Bill Simmons for this same thing, not as much anymore, but Peter is a diehard Red Sox fan and a Celtics fan (from what I have read), is it that shocking he may have grown up liking the Patriots? It's not a big deal, except when Peter does reviews of the Patriots depth chart, which he tends to do. Over the past two weeks he has reviewed the Patriots running game and how he thought they should have upgraded (in reference to Laurence Maroney) it in fairly good detail. We also remember two years ago Peter was talking about Matt Cassel every week and comparing him to everyone short of Mother Teresa. I recall charts Peter has used in his past MMQBs involving how good Wes Welker is, how Tom Brady was playing pre-knee injury and post-knee injury, how many draft picks the Patriots had and where they were at in the draft, and how good of a year Matt Cassel was having in 2008.

I'm just saying, interview Tom Brady and that's fine, but don't turn it into an offseason review.

The Patriots are in a weird spot. They have a team 90 percent of the owners (and most fan bases) in the league would die for. They won three of the last nine Super Bowls and still have the coach and quarterback who were the most important pieces in all three of those seasons. They won 58 games in the past five seasons; only one team in the league, Indianapolis, won more consistently in the regular-season over the same span. To average 11.6 wins a year ... that's failure?

No, it's not failure, but it seems like some people in the Boston fan base are trying to be like some people in the New York fan base and hold their team to a high standard as a way of showing how dedicated the fan base truly is to the team and how much they expect of them. It's like they think if they accept a 10-6 season without calling for the heads of the coach and all the coordinators on a platter then that means they aren't dedicated fans or something. It's really bizarre.

So no, 11.6 wins per year is not failure, but some of the fan base wants to hold its team to a high standard like they seem to do in New York for some reason. This also causes the false assumption that Boston/New York fans care more about their team than any other fan base. They criticize every decision made by the team and say a player sucks after one bad play, or maybe it just seems that way, and this is taken as complete devotion and extreme caring about their team. To say it sort of drives me crazy is an understatement.

I'm not saying all fans in these two cities do this, but it feels like it sometimes. Then the media takes this vocal criticism and fan-dom and somehow gives the indication these fans are more dedicated to their team than other fan bases.

The question around New England and around the league is the same, particularly with the Jets and Dolphins nipping at the Patriots' heels: Are the Patriots on their way up again, or on the way down?

Who cares other than Patriots fans? They haven't been down in a decade, even without Tom Brady, I doubt this is the year they go 5-11.

Now his family goals take precedence, and because his older son (he shares custody), lives in Los Angeles,

Ok, we get it. He has kids and has to juggle his life with his kids' lives. This is nothing different from what many other people have to do on a daily basis with their families. Welcome to the real world Peter King.

Things actually are much more simple than they've ever been. I used to spend every weekend running around with friends. Now I've got two great kids, and I love spending time with them. [Benjamin] is usually up at 6 in the morning, so that's when the day starts now.''

I wonder if Peter thinks Tom Brady is special in any way? I am getting that feeling. Nothing against Tom Brady, this is more on Peter King. Many people don't have the option of spending more time with their kids rather than going to work. So while it is great Peter is doing this profile on Tom Brady, I don't where or why Peter believes simply because Tom Brady is a professional athlete things are more difficult for him or his story is unique (outside of him marrying a model and having a child with an actress of course) when it comes to seeing his kids.

"I hope they can understand. I've seen it handled different ways by a lot of guys on the team in the past, including some of the real leaders. I've seen Willie McGinest and Rodney Harrison when their family lives turned in different directions and they couldn't be in the offseason program every day. Ultimately, what it comes down to is this: We've all got to be ready to play.''

Just then he said, "Hold on,'' and said to his son Jack, "Want to go on the swing?''

NO OTHER PERSON HAS EVER PUT HIS CHILD ON A SWING WHILE ON THE PHONE! TOM BRADY IS THE FIRST PERSON TO DO THIS!

Time for one more topic: the Jets ... the never-ending fortification of the Jets.

Or as I call it, the "POSSIBLE never-ending fortification of the Jets." It's not time to crown their asses quite yet. Teams that look good on paper don't always do so well when injuries and ineffectiveness hit.

No matter how much Brady's around this spring, I doubt we'll look back next January and say, "Yup. Brady missing big chunks of the offseason program doomed the Patriots.'' It'll be the effectiveness of those around him that determines the Patriots season -- and how good the team 190 miles to the southwest plays.

Sorry about that Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, the season has not even started yet and Peter King has already counted you out in the AFC East division. Peter thinks the division will come down to the Jets and the Patriots (New York and Boston for bitter people). Miami, just give up now, you stand no chance in the AFC East.

(On a different note, was it necessary for ESPN to show the Yankees on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday Night Baseball? I know I gave a "Get-Over It" award for this type complaint last week, but three games by 1 team in four days? Isn't that a bit much?)

Peter's catching up with Tom Brady took up exactly half of his MMQB. Just thought I would add that.

"I think what happened was in Tennessee they probably got a little too carried away with the Chris Johnson thing. The year before that we were 13-3 when I had 200 carries and we split the rock. Chris went to the Pro Bowl and we had the first-round bye, they did things different the next year and we struggled to make the playoffs. It is what it is.''

-- LenDale White, the running back traded from Tennessee to Seattle on draft weekend, appearing to blame the Titans' 2009 slump on the emphasis placed on getting Chris Johnson a 2,000-yard rushing season, on Fox Sports Radio, via sportsradiointerviews.com.

LenDale White is an idiot. The reason the Titans struggled last year is they went 0-5 in the first 5 games of the season and then finally took the job away from Kerry Collins. Then they lost one more game and went 8-2 the rest of the way.

Just one look at the Titans results shows that when Chris Johnson carried the ball more and ran the ball better, the Titans won. I don't know if White will have a good year in Seattle or not, but this is an idiotic comment. The Titans did better when Chris Johnson got the ball a lot.

"On my family, I will go to the death and say he doesn't take steroids.''

-- New Jersey personal trainer Joe DeFranco, to Tara Sullivan of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.), on Brian Cushing, the client he has trained since Cushing's junior year at Bergen Catholic High. Cushing, the NFL's defensive rookie of the year last season, was handed a four-game suspension Friday for violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs statute.

Apparently this guy needs to go this death. I have nothing against Brian Cushing, but when can we ever believe an athlete when they are denying they did something. I am somewhere between "never" and "never-ever."

In Russell's last 31 quarters as an Oakland starting quarterback, this guy with the tremendous arm threw one touchdown pass. That's a phenomenal run of badness, even worse than putting up only 55 points in his last seven starts as a Raider.

The sad part is there will be a team that takes a chance on Russell. They may not take a big chance and allow him to automatically become the backup, but a chance nonetheless. There has to be other quarterbacks available on the free agent market better than him, but they will get passed over because Russell "looks" like a quarterback.

I wasn't aware New Hampshire required seat-belt use for youths, but not for adults. So I googled the whole thing back home and discovered how adamant citizenry had been in fighting seat-belt laws. Turns out New Hampshire is the only state that doesn't require residents to wear a seat belt, and it was the cause of some fiery local rhetoric last year when the legislature in the capital of Concord tried to pass such a law.

Not taking one side or the other here, but I wonder how many drivers have lived free and died while not wearing a seat belt there.

By not taking one side or the other, Peter just actually one side over the other.

(An aside) I am torn on seat belt requirements for adults over the age of 18. I think it should be 21 years of age before a person doesn't have to wear a seat belt, but that is beside the point. I think citizens should be kept safe, but if a person wants to risk dying in an accident, that's his/her business. I don't know why a person wouldn't wear a seat belt, but a part of me thinks it should be up to the adult on whether he/she wears one.

1. I think when I lived in New Jersey a few years ago, there were always whispers about how star high school linebacker Brian Cushing got so big and so strong so fast. And no matter how Cushing spins it in the wake of being suspended for four weeks for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance (Cushing denied to friend and workout pal Jay Glazer that what he tested positive for was a steroid), it doesn't matter.

I think this is a big test for Jay Glazer. Is he going to pull a Peter King and stay in denial about whether Cushing is lying or not? Or is he going to accept the fact Cushing has gotten caught twice for some sort of PED use and actually acknowledge the truth? Another part of me wonders if Glazer had an idea Cushing was using some sort of substance, since they work out together and all of that.

I always think it is a bad idea for a journalist covering a sport to become over-friendly with players from that sport. It brings too many questions in my mind about the relationship in situations like this.

We could never believe a linebacker from USC would use a performance-enhancing drug do we?

4. I think, by the way, that you won't get anywhere with me when you say men like Taylor and O.J. Simpson, who have had post-career trouble with the law, should be removed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's not the Moral Pro Football Hall of Fame. Never has been and it shouldn't be.

Tell that to the the MLB Hall of Fame when they try to arbitrarily factor morality in and out of the conversation for different players.

5. I think I got a kick out of watching the media make a big deal last week of the quote in this space on Brett Favre.

How dare the media make a big deal out of a story reported by Peter King about something Brett Favre allegedly said. Why would anyone in the media take anything Peter or Brett says seriously?

I get a kick out of Peter getting a kick that people believed what he wrote. Peter does realize what he writes sometimes actually has some value in regard to reporting doesn't he? This isn't a personal diary he writes every Monday morning, but a column about football. If he puts something in here of interest, then it will be reported on other places. It amazes me a little bit that Peter doesn't seem to believe people should believe what he writes or take it seriously.

I realize anytime Favre says anything it's going to be news. But I put the quote in the context it deserved -- very low in this column, with the perspective that Favre has changed his mind so often in the past 26 months about playing or not playing that it's not very important right now.

Right, but Peter also should realize he is bosum-buddies with Brett Favre, so anything he reports on Favre for some reason is seen as more believable. I say "for some reason" because Peter hasn't ever been right on a Favre-related story...at least in the last three years.

Singletary was the Niners' assistant head coach and linebackers coach when Willis was drafted in 2008, then became the interim head coach when Mike Nolan was fired in October 2008. It's not that Singletary tried to re-make Willis in his image; he didn't have to. But it's interesting to see that a young, aggressive, talented inside linebacker takes mentoring from a guy whose career was peaking the year Willis was born (1985). Singletary's not a guy Willis would have watched much on TV as a kid.

Patrick Willis is not stupid. Simply because he didn't see Singletary play that much doesn't mean he is ignorant to how good Singletary was or hasn't seen highlights of him play. This is 2010 and a guy like Patrick Willis, who is a middle linebacker, probably has seen highlights and knows about other great middle linebackers.

9. I think I'm starting to get nervous. Next week is my column ranking the teams 1 to 32. I'm always so good at these things, like last year -- when I picked the Saints 24th entering the season and wrote: "This defense is not going to be good enough to win eight games.'' They had a nice little season, as you'll recall.

This is what happens when you rank teams before Training Camp even begins and the rosters are even somewhat set. I know Carolina will be 20th or so and Peter will have a concern or something stupid that will piss me off. It is fine to have concerns about a team, but just make them relevant concerns. His concerns about the Saints last year, in regard to their defense, was actually relevant.

I hate team rankings that are overly premature like the ones Peter will have up next week.

d. This is what you're getting for your $17 million a year out of Josh Beckett, Sox fans: In his past six starts against the Yankees and Rays, the two best teams in the American League East, Beckett has one win, a 6.75 ERA and has allowed 52 baserunners in 36 innings.

There is one expensive player on your pitching staff not doing well Red Sox fans! He should be executed immediately. When Beckett has a 0.96 ERA in June and a 1.59 ERA in August, don't let it shock you.

f. Not to be all New England-centric this morning (guilty, as charged),

This is true not only this week, but a good portion of weeks. Mostly involving non-NFL related stuff.

i. After witnessing Rajon Rondo's phenomenal game Sunday in Boston -- the Celtics point guard led all players in points (28), rebounds (18) and assists (13) in his team's series-evening win over the Cavaliers -- I am reconsidering my distaste for the NBA. The smallest guy on the floor achieving that? Incredible.

I'll nitpick this. Rondo is 6'1" and Mo Williams is 6'1," so technically Rondo isn't the smallest guy on the floor, though Peter's point still stands.

l. I'm in the market for a good movie. Got any good ones?

Yes, I do. How about you check out the "Internet" or "newspaper" and see what movies are playing in your area and then do research to see which one you would like to watch...and maybe not be so lazy and think for yourself.

m. RIP Ernie Harwell, a man who was as important to one state over the last half-century as any other broadcaster. Great voice, and a fine, fine man.

(Me being an asshole) Why do I have a feeling if Vin Scully had died then he would be as important to the sport of baseball as any other broadcaster, but when Ernie Harwell dies, he is as important to just one state as a broadcaster?

Maybe I am being grumpy today. MMQB will do that to me.