Attending a New England Patriots game at Gillette Stadium, then getting a 1-on-1 audience with Vince Wilfork afterward, normally would sound like a lot of fun.
Not for Mary Ellen Brooks of Hanson, Mass. At least not the “afterward” part.
Brooks drank nine beers at Sunday’s AFC Championship Game and had a blood-alcohol content of .185, more than twice the legal limit, after the Patriots defensive tackle pulled her from her overturned Jeep Wrangler on Route 1 early Monday morning, according to Massachusetts State Police. She appeared in Wrentham District Court on Tuesday facing charges of operating under the influence and negligent driving, pleading not guilty, according to a Boston Herald court report.
The beer count came from Brooks’ own account given to state troopers, who found her wearing a Patriots jersey with her pants “wet with alcohol” and an open bottle of Blue Moon in the vehicle. Brooks, who is about 5-foot-5 and 175 pounds, according to the Herald, told troopers she had four beers before the game, three during and two in the parking lot later.
Wilfork downplayed his role in pulling Brooks from her car, telling reporters Monday in Foxboro, “Luckily, my wife and I were able to actually help.”
Said Brooks’ lawyer, Arnie Lett: “She would like to thank Mr. Wilfork. She’s very grateful that he stopped and took her out of the car knowing that he had just come off a big win with the Patriots game. And how he still had a nice way about him to stop and attend to her while she was in that condition. … He’s obviously raised well and raised well by the Patriots.”
Thumbnail photo via Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports Images
