October 31, 2006
Politician Uses NFL QB Son as “Prop”
Brees wants no part of mom’s campaign in Texas
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has asked his mother to stop using his picture in TV commercials touting her candidacy for a Texas appeals court.
In commercials running on Austin stations, Mina Brees had been using a picture of her son in the uniform of his former team, the San Diego Chargers, to emphasize her ties to football.
“I think the major point here is that my mother is using me in a campaign, and I’ve made it known many times I don’t want to be involved,” Drew Brees said Monday.
I’ve been following Drew Brees’ career since the late 90’s when he was the starting QB for Purdue, and I was sitting in the stands watching those games. At that time, and since, I have never heard anyone with a negative thing to say about Drew. In fact, he has been routinely praised for the work he does in the community, and with his recent trade to New Orleans, he’s very active in helping to revive the city after Katrina.
So my initial thought is to take his side. This is even further the case given what I know about people in politics, who are usually willing to do just about anything to get elected. And with a little more of the back story, it sounds like his mother is blatantly trying to use her connection to a famous football player to bolster her campaign:
She said her connection to football is relevant to her campaign because her father, a successful high school coach, used sports to teach her a strong work ethic that she would bring to the judicial bench.
Drew Brees, who won a state football championship with Westlake High School in suburban Austin, said he got no response from his mother when he first heard about the ads and called her to ask that she stop using them. His agent sent her a letter Oct. 20 threatening legal action, he said.
He called his relationship with his mother “nonexistent” after it crumbled six years ago when he refused to hire her as his agent.
Hmm, it’s funny how she wants to show her ties to football and how it has helped her work ethic, and yet gloss over the fact that she’s basically estranged from her son due to her past attempts to ride his coattails. People who are threatened with legal action from their children may have a great work ethic, but I’d have to think that some Texas voters would worry about her commitment to “family values”.
But one bit of this story made me really angry. Sometimes you can see in certain comments just how duplicitous and conniving people can be, and this quote is a perfect example:
“I love Drew very much, and I’m very proud of him. But sometimes when people are following a career path, they change,” she said.
So she says she’s very proud of her son, but in the way she makes this statement, it’s clear that she’s unhappy with the “change” he’s gone through. If she’s so unhappy with the “change”, why is she trying to hype her connection to him?
When you look at that statement again, perhaps she’s unconsciously talking about herself. She was probably a good mother, and then when the time came for her son to enter the spotlight, she decided that it was time for her to bring her career in line with his, by becoming his agent. When that didn’t work, she pushed ahead to try for elected office, and used her position as the mother of an NFL QB, in a state where football is very important, to bolster her campaign. So who changed while following their career path, Drew or his mom?
With an attitude like that, is it any wonder that Drew describes his relationship with her as “nonexistent”?
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who you think will cover tonight UAB @ SMU-5
My guess is SMU. More explosive offense in the air, and their run defense is stronger than their pass defense, while UAB runs better than they pass. Plus they’re at home. I’d put them as a 1-TD favorite. So it’s close.
But I’m no expert on C-USA teams…
Technically, I think Drew wasn’t traded. I think the Chargers decided not to re-sign Drew when his contract expired thus leaving him to be an unrestricted free agent.
I really feel for Drew and the family situation … especially now that it has played out in the media. Hopefully one day cooler heads will prevail, and they can put this all behind them.