PHOENIX — Brandon Browner is trying to change, but he’ll always have the Legion of Boom in and on him.
The former Seattle Seahawk came out when Browner, who has a Legion of Boom tattoo, told ESPN’s Josina Anderson earlier this week that his New England Patriots teammates should try to target Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas’ injured areas. Those type of statements usually don’t fly with the Patriots, and Browner insists he meant no harm by the comment.
“Those are my brothers. At the end of the day, there’s no hard feelings,” the cornerback said Tuesday at Super Bowl Media Day. “That’s like in any game, you have a guy that messes his ankle up and you’re going to tackle and make sure you land on his ankle. If a guy messes his shoulder up, then you tackle him and land on his shoulder — that’s just a part of the game. You guys know how close I am to those boys, and at the time, that felt like the right thing to say.”
Sherman knows Browner meant no harm.
“I think he was just caught up in the moment,” Sherman said. “He didn’t mean any malice by it. It’s one of those things, we know him as a person and sometimes he exaggerates a little bit. He didn’t mean anything by that, and we didn’t take it offensively. We know him as a person and we know who he is.”
Browner was used to being able to say whatever he wanted in Seattle, where head coach Pete Carroll doesn’t punish players for it. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is known to reprimand players for outlandish comments, but Browner doesn’t mind the “Patriot Way.”
“I actually like it, though, because I wasn’t one to talk to media,” Browner said. “I’m actually surprised that I’m comfortable talking with you guys now. Sometimes I don’t like talking to the media, so it works in my favor.”
Browner was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse and performance-enhancing drug policies with the Seahawks, but he’s been a choir boy with the Patriots. The cornerback said he’s actively trying to behave better in New England.
“I’m trying to clean up my image a little bit, but I truly believe everybody makes mistakes,” Browner said. “Just on this level my mistakes are magnified and blown up a little bit. The reason I say I want to clean it up a little bit, not more so for the media but for the kids and elderly fans that watch the game. Just change up some of what they think of me.”
The cornerback was suspended last season when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and he had to watch the game from home. Players typically don’t need extra motivation for the Super Bowl, but that certainly can’t hurt.
Thumbnail photo via Doug Kyed/NESN
