Brady not a fan of new helmets, either
In the recent offseason, the NFL and the players’ association banned several models of football helmets in an effort to improve player safety. This has not gone over well with some players.
Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown, for example, has been getting headlines for his apparent unwillingness to play unless he can wear his old helmet. On Monday, Brown lost his grievance against the league over the issue. But he’s not the only person complaining about wearing a new helmet. Enter New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
“I’ve been experimenting with a couple different ones, and I don’t really love the one that I’m in, but I don’t really have much of a choice,” Brady told Boston radio station WEEI on Monday. “So I’m just trying to do the best I can to work with it.
“You get used to the same helmet for a long period of time. My last helmet, I wore it the last four Super Bowls, so it was a pretty great helmet for me. I hated to put it on the shelf. It’s kind of what I’m dealing with.”
Your favorite sports moment
What is your favorite alltime L.A. sports moment? Tell me what it is and why, and it might run in a future Morning Briefing. Today’s moment comes from Chuck Mozena of Paso Robles:
“On June 4, 1968, my dad and I went to see the Dodgers play the Pirates. It was a very memorable night.
“First off, I caught a ball although caught is a very generous term. We were sitting on the field level about 12 rows up. Before the game, Maury Wills, who was then on the Pirates [which to this day doesn’t sound right], was walking in front of us. Some kids farther back were yelling at Maury to throw a ball to them, which he did. However, he threw it too high and it hit the cement overhang of the second deck. The ball ricocheted off the cement, hit a seat a few rows behind us and then it rolled over my shoulder and landed in my lap. I am now 65 and to this day, it’s the only ball I have ever ‘caught.’
“That night was also memorable to historians of both baseball and the world. Don Drysdale pitched his sixth straight shutout to run his then-record total of scoreless innings to 54. Dad and I were still so excited that when we got home, we had my mom take a picture of Dad holding the programs and me holding that ball.
“It was a school night, so I went to bed. But I remember being woken up by my older sister yelling to my parents to come see the TV. For some reason I didn’t get up, so it wasn’t until the next morning that I learned Robert Kennedy had been shot. Along with all the memories of the night before, I will also never forget the look on my parents’ and sister’s faces that morning.
“My dad passed away at the age of 92 in October, before the World Series [Dodgers, you couldn’t have won for my dad?], but as I write this, I see a framed picture of a program, two tickets for $3.50 each and a photo of a goofy 14-year-old standing next to his idol. Thanks, Dad.”
Sports poll
We asked readers of the daily sports newsletter and of Morning Briefing to tell us “Which team has the best 12-3 rotation in baseball? Is it Houston with Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Gerrit Cole; Washington with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin; the Dodgers with Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler; or some other team?” After 13,260 votes, here are the results:
Dodgers ......................... 53.8% Houston ......................... 37.7% Washington .................... 7.4% Other .................................. 1.1%
The New York Mets drew most of the votes for “other,” but one person, apparently stuck in a time loop, voted for “Koufax, Drysdale and Osteen.”