BOSTON — Kevin Youkilis hasn't been following the hoopla surrounding his brother-in-law's absence from the Patriots' voluntary OTAs.
The Greek God of Walks was honored at a gala on Thursday night in Boston as one of this year's Red Sox Hall of Fame inductees. Brady, whose sister Julie is married to Youkilis, wasn't on hand.
"Tom’s not going to be here tonight. He has an engagement where he can’t make it," Youkilis said. "But he’s super excited and proud and he’s just, you know, we’re all one big family and all root for each other. And he couldn’t be more proud."
Youkilis said he and Brady text back and forth, to check in on how their respective children are doing, but that's about the extent of their communication. If Youk's been following every twist and turn of Brady's offseason — and now, Brady's absence from OTAs — he didn't let on.
He did bring a little sarcasm, though.
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"I don’t even know, like honestly, I have no idea what’s going on," Youk said. "Like to be honest. I’ve been so bogged down with the brewery [I own in California] that I haven’t even watched football yet. It’s too early, right? To worry about football? I guess here in New England it’s always a topic of conversation. Everything will work out. I think Tom knows what he’s doing and he’s going to get out there and who knows, he might lead you to another Super Bowl.
"I mean, that might be an odd thing to say, right, this early?"
Wink wink.
Asked if Brady's passion for the game is still strong, Youkilis did not hesitate.
"Oh yeah. Oh yeah," Youkilis said. "Tom is a competitor and he’s going to go out there and play as hard as he can every single time he gets out there. He’s going to be the most prepared guy out there on the field, I can tell you that much."