Culture / Sporting Life

Tom Brady Enjoys His Taste of Texas Justice: Stolen Jersey Recovery Brings New Over-the-Top Drama

BY // 03.20.17

Tom Brady went through Roger Goodell justice. Now, he’s experienced Texas justice. It’s a safe bet that the New England Patriots’ iconic quarterback far prefers the Lone Star State version.

For after an exhaustive hunt that sometimes seem to border on farce because of the scope of its intensity over a stolen football jersey, Brady will be getting his prized Super Bowl LI memento back. Yes, JerseyGate has been solved. The Super Bowl LI jersey swiped from Brady in the immediate aftermath of the Patriots’ 25-point comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium has been recovered. Along with a Brady jersey from New England’s 2015 Super Bowl victory that the quarterback may not have even realized was missing.

I think we can all sleep a little better at night now…

OK, maybe not. Even the Houston police suddenly seem a tad defensive over how big this stolen Brady jersey thing became. At a Monday press conference to triumph the jersey’s return, Houston police chief Art Acevedo insisted that while a handful of investigators from his department’s Major Offenders Division got assigned to the case, they were told not to burn the midnight oil on it.

Still, they solved it all the same. The alleged culprit? A man credentialed as a member of the international media who may have worked as an executive for the newspaper La Prensa in the past. The two Brady jerseys — along with the Super Bowl helmet of Denver Broncos’ defensive game changer Von Miller, who was the big star of the 2015 Super Bowl — were recovered in Mexico.

Why do I see a Donald Trump tweet coming?

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There’s no doubt it’s nice that Tom Brady is getting his jerseys back. While some are advancing the argument that this removes the one black mark from Houston’s uber successful Super Bowl hosting job, that whole idea is rather farfetched. It was pretty clear from the beginning that this wasn’t ever a Houston issue. Whoever got into the Patriots’ locker room and swiped the Brady jersey got there because the NFL approved their access into that locker room.

Houston’s Super Bowl hosting honor was never in jeopardy. It’s nice that the Houston police could do Brady a solid, though.

The Houston Police Department’s Major Offenders Division tracked the Brady jersey to Mexico — and the FBI stepped in to recover it from there. This allowed Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to weave, “Note to the international media: Don’t mess with Texas” into his own statement on the cracked JerseyGate case.

Crisis over — and just before the jersey’s 15 minutes of the fame would have been up. The dope who swiped Brady’s white No. 12 jersey is likely in for a world of hurt (if the jersey’s supposed $500,000 value holds up in court, this is no small felony). And Tom Brady feels good about Texas again.

Though when you’ve won two Super Bowls in Houston — the last in the greatest big game comeback ever — you’ve probably always been pretty good with Texas.

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