If you still can't get enough of the Tom Brady Super Bowl jersey caper, you're in luck. There are several new stories today providing additional details about the theft and recovery of the goods, which included a Broncos helmet from the previous year's Super Bowl.
ESPN posted a lengthy feature on the investigation and how authorities identified their suspect.
"To identify [Martin Mauricio] Ortega," the story reveals, "NFL security, Patriots security and the FBI pulled credentials for everybody who was issued one for Super Bowl LI – that totaled approximately 20,000 credentials.
"Going through each credential and accompanying photo one by one, they were able to narrow the number to about 1,400 based on the description of the person they had seen on the Fox Sports video. At photo 847, they identified Ortega. Around the same time this was happening, an FBI tip came in on Ortega."
It's a fascinating account.
Meanwhile, an Associated Press story (found on FOX Sports' website) has in-depth details of Ortega’s background and problematic history of attending Super Bowls with media credentials, but not using them to work.
"He told me that he was not there to work, that he was a fan," a former colleague told the AP. "And that he had asked for vacation from work to spend it at Super Bowl week, and he had attended more than 20 of them."
Another former colleague is also quoted, confirming what the other person claimed, and adding that Ortega told her, "There are people here to do that," meaning to work the Super Bowl while he did his own thing.
If that's not enough for you, The Boston Globe provides a minute-by-minute account of the theft, which comes from a FOX Sports video of the crime and its immediate aftermath.
In other Patriots news, CSNNE.com speculates on the future of one of New England's other QBs, backup Jimmy Garoppolo. Citing a report out of Cleveland, the post says the Browns could make one last push to acquire Garoppolo during next week's NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, when all the league's power brokers will be in the same place at the same time.
Free agent RB LeGarrette Blount remains unsigned, so, the MassLive blog proposes where Blount could wind up finding a home for the 2017 season.
TE Dwayne Allen is one of the newest Patriots, having come over from Indy in a recent trade. A WEEI.com column examines how Allen might be utilized this season in New England.
LB Dont'a Hightower is no longer a free agent, after signing a four-year deal to remain with the Patriots. An ESPN blog post, though, points out that a key date two years from now will determine if Hightower plays out the remaining two years of the pact.
Finally, in the Boston Herald, a column questions whether any AFC teams can challenge the Patriots this season.
