AUSTIN, 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.
"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."
-- Saints QB Drew Brees
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.
Mina Brees, an Austin attorney, is running as a Democrat for a
spot on Texas' 3rd Court of Appeals. She said replacement
commercials that omit any mention of her son were taped last week
and sent to stations on Friday.
She said she did not anticipate upsetting her son and that
"everything in the ad was true."
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.
Mina Brees said her son's allegations were a mischaracterization
and that she had no intention of becoming his agent.
"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.
Mina Brees also said she did not receive any messages asking her
to exclude her son from her campaign.
Jill Fredericks, sales director for KVUE Television, said the
station received a new version of Mina Brees' commercial late
Friday. The old version stopped running Sunday and the new one was
scheduled to begin Tuesday, she said.
Mina Brees is challenging incumbent Republican Justice David
Puryear in next week's election. The appeals court reviews civil
and criminal cases from 24 counties in Central and West Texas.