Stage Diving with Bledsoe and Zolak

[RSN Diaspora]

Both CBS and Deadspin (the latter building on the former's story) have articles this morning about an interview the Farrelly Brothers did with Rich Eisen about Brett Favre's cameo in There's Something About Mary. Apparently, since the brothers are Pats fans, their first choice was Drew Bledsoe. But a mosh pit incident threw a wrench into that plan. Deadspin:
 

 
On Nov. 13, 1997, members of the Patriots including Bledsoe, backup QB Scott Zolak, and OT Max Lane, attended an Everclear show at the Paradise club on Commonwealth Avenue.

 
Deadspin quotes an LA Times article about the incident:
 

 
A 23-year-old Maynard, Mass., woman was injured during the stage-diving. Tameeka Messier remained in stable condition at a Boston-area hospital with a bruised back. She has probably heard from some prominent attorneys already.
 
Bledsoe's agent, Leigh Steinberg, told the Associated Press that the quarterback did dive from the stage and into the mosh pit. Bledsoe, 25, who is married, has a 3-week-old baby at home.
 
All this set the stage for Sunday's game in Tampa Bay, in which the Buccaneers dismantled the Patriots, 27-7. Bledsoe was replaced by Zolak for New England's final drive—a 10-play, 75-yard march that produced the Patriot touchdown with eight seconds left.

 
Bledsoe issued a statement saying that his shit performance wasn't related to the mosh pit incident, but he (wisely, probably) figured that filming a movie after this debacle would lead angry fans to wonder about his priorities.
 
Peter Farrelly:
 

 
"He was a single guy, went out with his pals, they went to a club, he dove into a mosh pit and someone kind of tweaked their neck, nothing serious, but it was in the news. So he called us up and said 'I can't come do your movie in Miami because if they find out I did a movie after that they're going to run me out of town.'"

 
Bledsoe apparently called in to the interview, saying "It's one of my great regrets in life that I didn't take that part. I know the movie would've had a successful run had I been in it. Had I taken that part instead of Brett, we're talking Academy Awards and all those things."

 

[JohntheBaptist]

Probably better for the Farrellys it was Favre--Bledsoe's stunt casting wouldn't have aged as well.

 

[Corsi]

And with Bledsoe, you don't get 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnpmBlQkJ-4

 

[Silverdude2167]

Lane had to pay more than Bledsoe? That seems harsh just based on income.
 

 
 
The suit would be settled in 1999 for a reported $1.2 million, with all four parties contributing.The Boston Globe reported that Bledsoe paid $400,000, Lane paid $600,000, and insurance companies for the Paradise and Everclear paid $100,000 each.

 

[Nator]

Max Lane couldn't even protect Bledsoe off the field.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Max Lane couldn't even protect Bledsoe off the field.

 

 

[Harry Hooper]

Lane had to pay more than Bledsoe? That seems harsh just based on income.
 

 
IIRC, the injured woman was a BU student and was hurt way more than Farrelly was suggesting. Lane was the one who actually landed on her, so he had the most liability. Plus, with Lane tipping the scales at over 300 lbs., it was ridiculous for him to claim he didn't think he'd hurt anyone if he fell on them.

 

[tims4wins]

Man I remember that Tampa game and what a putrid performance it was. Just looked it up, Drew was 13-25 for 117 and 2 picks.

 

[Marciano490]

If Brady had landed on her, she would've ended up pregnant with a boy.

 

[schillzilla]

I was at that Tampa game - it was far worse than the numbers. There were a ton of pats fans that made the trip ( during warm ups I remember Milloy coming over to the corner and pumping his arm to the crowd seeing all the blue in the stands), the rest of the game we all had nothing to cheer about. I seem to remember them not getting a first down until the third quarter. Putrid

 

[lexrageorge]

In that Tampa game, Tom Tupa had almost as many yards punting (293) than the entire NE offense (168).  
 
Chris Canty had the only Patriots sack in that game.  Of course, he missed a chance to recover the ensuing fumble he caused because he was too busy doing a dance to celebrate his sack.  That game also concluded a 2-5 stretch for the Pats, which took all the glory off of their 4-0 start that season, and essentially was the beginning of the end for Pete Carroll (albeit an ending that took 2 more seasons to play itself out). 

 

[Old Fart Tree]

I remember that as the worst pass protection I'd ever seen. It was like 2.0 seconds and Bledsoe was getting crushed.