Here’s a look at this morning’s top stories:
Brady Gets His Jerseys Back – Tom Brady finally got his two stolen Super Bowl jerseys back, with Patriots owner Robert Kraft giving them back to New England’s signal-caller in a video posted via the team’s official Twitter feed.
Brady was all smiles as Kraft took the two jerseys out of the bag, handing him the first one and you could see how happy the quarterback was to finally have it back in his possession.
“That’s pretty cool,” said Brady. “How ’bout that?”
“That’s awesome.”‘
Kraft then took out the second one, pointing out the fact that it was still just as it was the day he wore it.
“Look at the grass stains,” said Kraft.
“The paint stains,” said Brady, who smiled again as Kraft handed it to him.
Kraft joked, “It took an international trip.”
Here’s a look at the video:
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/848938799556120577
Patriots Crash Red Sox Opening Day – Today was opening day for the Red Sox in Boston at Fenway Park, and once again, the Super Bowl Champion Patriots made an appearance.
Brady, Kraft, Rob Gronkowski, James White and Dion Lewis each made an appearance, with the five participants holding up five Lombardi trophies as they took the field with “Crazy Train” playing in the background.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/848964274676527104
High 5?! #OpeningDay #WinDanceRepeat pic.twitter.com/ItPa4uoIPY
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 3, 2017
Special guests at @RedSox #OpeningDay! pic.twitter.com/fWra3VrYDm
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 3, 2017
One other funny moment included Brady holding up his recovered jersey and Gronkowski snatched it away, with Brady tackling him out in shallow right field.
Tom and Gronk just out here having some fun pic.twitter.com/6Ofvc3dbiB
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 3, 2017
That fortunately started off a positive day for the Red Sox, who went on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 for their first win of 2017.
No Contract Offer For Adrian Peterson – Free agent running back Adrian Peterson made his visit to Foxboro on Monday, but it sounds like he won’t be wearing a Patriots uniform anytime soon.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the former Vikings running back left without a contract, which means that, for now, he won’t be joining New England’s backfield.
Bill Belichick is notorious for doing a little due diligence when it comes to free agents and it certainly doesn’t mean that the fact he wasn’t signed Monday doesn’t necessarily end the possibility of Peterson playing for him.
The interesting part of this situation is the fact that Jonathan Kraft didn’t exactly speak too highly of Peterson back in 2014 when asked about it just before the Patriots faced Minnesota back on September 14, 2014.
“I just don’t get it, so it is hard to comment on,” Kraft told Scott Zolak on 98.5 The Sports Hub during an interview prior to the contest via ESPN.com. “Other than the fact the way I was brought up and the way I brought my children is you don’t lay your hands on them. From where I sit it is completely unacceptable and as abhorrent as what we have been talking about [with Ray Rice]. It was interesting hearing some people raise a defense about it being cultural and I can’t comment on that.
“Everything I have heard about this makes you just physically uncomfortable as the other stuff we have talked about. And I think it is a real issue and in this case I think Adrian Peterson in his comments basically did say it is a thing he grew up with and is culturally what the norm is. I can’t comment on it because it is just so alien to me.”
 It’s been a long time since Patriots fans have seen Rob Gronkowski in action. |
Patriots Signed Off On Gronkowski’s Wrestlemania appearance – Gronkowski crashing Wrestlemania was certainly one of the more unexpected moments during the event and watching him lay a hit was encouraging after not seeing the veteran tight end on the field since he was lost for the year due to a back injury.
The team must feel good about where he’s at recovery-wise, so much so that they apparently knew about his appearance, with ProFootballTalk.com reporting that they gave him permission to do so.
Mike Florio points out that any injury Gronkowski might have suffered due to the event could have been detrimental and New England could very well have kept him away.
Per paragraph 3, titled “Other Activities”: “Without prior written consent of the Club, Player will not play football or engage in activities related to football otherwise than for Club or engage in any activity other than football which may involve a significant risk of personal injury. Player represents that he has special, exceptional and unique knowledge, skill, ability, and experience as a football player, the loss of which cannot be estimated with any certainty and cannot be fairly or adequately compensated by damages. Player therefore agrees that Club will have the right, in addition to any other right which Club may possess, to enjoin Player by appropriate proceedings from playing football or engaging in football-related activities other than for Club or from engaging in any activity other than football which may involve a significant risk of personal injury.”
Fortunately for Gronkowski, everything went off without a hitch and fans got to enjoy seeing him give out a hit instead of taking one, which was certainly a nice change.
OTAs and Minicamp Dates Announced – With April already upon us, the first sign that football is not that far away became a little more apparent on Monday when the team announced the dates of their first OTAs and minicamp dates.
The team will hold their first organized team activities on Monday May 22, with two sessions happening before they open up one to the media on Thursday, May 25th.
May OTA Dates:
Monday 5/22
Tuesday 5/23
Thursday 5/25 (Open to the Media)
Wednesday 5/31
June Minicamp Dates:
Tuesday 6/6 – (Open to the Media)
Wednesday 6/7 – (Open to the Media)
Thursday 6/8 – (Open to the Media)
June OTA Dates:
Thursday 6/1
Monday 6/12 (Open to the Media)
Tuesday 6/13
Thursday 6/15
For now, next up will be the NFL Draft, which will happen later this month from APril 27-29 in Philadelphia.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
