Wednesday, June 13, 2007

'Punky' Brewster Says Weis is Fat, Etc....

I'm not going to make any judgments on this, considering I don't know the source or its accuracy. But the following post was made on a Notre Dame forum. If it's true, we've just seen a new side to Tim Brewster. And it isn't pretty. Here is the entire post:

So I just moved into a new apartment, and it so happens that Tim Brewster, the new U of MN coach, lives in the same place. Last week there was a "meet and greet" for the coach, and he gave his spiel about how great things would be for the MN Gophers, how they were changing the program around, and how excited they were to be moving into a new stadium in '09. He repeatedly made the statement "we need to keep Minnesota players in Minnesota" and told the crowd if anybody was from Cretin-Derham, to spread that message. I went up to him afterwards and told him congrats and good luck, but that I was from ND and we might be recruiting the same Minnesota players. In what I can only describe as bizarre, Brewster basically went off on me, saying how sick he was Notre Dame and our arrogance, pompous attitudes, and fear of playing Minnesota in their new stadium. When I told him it was the collective opinion of ND fans that it was our athletic director who wouldn't budge the schedule, he went off on Weis of all people, called him a "slob, a disgrace to Notre Dame, with his dirty mouth and appearance" or something similar. He said Notre Dame could never recruit another Minnesota player until Weis was under 350 pounds. This whole time I was kind of in awe that another D1 coach could be so tactless, especially around somebody who he had never met. I should have asked him if had a Notre Dame opt out clause in his contract, like Holtz. Oh well. But now I really wish we would play them in for their first game in the new stadium.
No matter the accuracy of the post, Brewster and the Gophers are getting hammered at ND Nation because of it. Some have even taken to calling our new coach 'Punky.'

I'll make two points. One, Weis is a big, big man, as you can see above. And second, could someone seriously make that up? Do Notre Dame fans really have a reason to tear down Brewster?

21 comments:

snyde043 said...

This sounds like a load of crap.

PJS said...

My original thought was that there is no way it could be true.

But it's an awfully detailed story to make up, isn't it? And to what end? Why would the commenter, who seems to be a regular at ND Nation, make something like that up?

snyde043 said...

Boredom?

Concern that Brewster could actually beat out Weis for someone like Michael Floyd?

Who knows? It just doesn't sound anything like Brewster, so until I see something, anything, to corroborate it, I don't think it's worth worrying about.

Let the ND Nation fuss and fume over whatever they want...I don't give a crap about them.

Anonymous said...

This really doesn't bother me at all even if it is true. There is a distinct possibility Weis/Notre Dame have a holier than thou attitude about many things Brewster has encountered...the new stadium opening, recruiting, etc. He could easily be upset with the way he was treated. Now, telling some random fan those things maybe isn't the most appropriate, but if a Badger or Hawkeye fan came up to me and told me as much, I would definitely tell them what I think of them and it would likely be worse than what Brewster said.

PJS said...

I really don't put much stock in this, but it certainly caught me by surprise. I think that is the first anecdote I've seen that wasn't pro-Brewster.

Jon Marthaler said...

I love this story. This is what the off-season was made for.... and great work unearthing it.

dave said...

I'd be shocked if this wasn't a total fabrication. This exemplifies the dark side of the Internet: scurrilous rumors and outright falsehoods spread under the cowardly cloak of anonymity that damage--and, in some cases, destroy--people's reputations.

Anonymous said...

Lets see

we (ND and MINN) are both trying to recruit one of the highest rated Minnesota football players. And during the recruitment a unnamed source details a private conversation he had with Brewster, which paints Brew in a negative light.

Golly it must be true, no one would make stuff like that up.

Tom said...

I also tend to think this is a non-story. In the months that Brewster has been hired he has said absolutley the "right thing" every single time. Press conferences, interviews, talking to fans, whatever; he has always said exactly the right thing to promote Gopher football and remain positive on all fronts. This may change when things get tough but I just can't imagine that he'd say stuff like this in the midst of recruiting.

PJS said...

It's kind of amazing how everyone in Gopher Nation is completely enamored with Brewster. Tom, you're right, Brewster says the right things in public. All that tells us is he is a good PR man.

But we don't know enough about him to know if a mini-rant to an ND fan is far-fetched, or a part of his personality we haven't yet seen.

snyde043 said...

Actually, we do know that in this internet age, if Brewster were prone to making the kinds of comments he's been accused of, it probably would have taken place somewhere else that he served as an assistant and somebody would have come out of the woodwork with a story when he was first hired by the U.

PJS said...

Mark, Brewster was a tight ends coach in Denver. He's never even been a coordinator. His head coaching experience is at the high school level.

Brewster is only now in the spotlight.

snyde043 said...

Um, Brewster spent 13 years as an assistant with Mack Brown, first at UNC, where he was recruiting coordinator for part of that time and then at Texas where he was also involved in recruiting.

PJS said...

Head coach of a Big Ten team and recruiter are two different worlds and stages.

snyde043 said...

Fair enough.

However, here's another point to consider for why this could be a fabrication and why it came out now.

According to the Strib, Brewster is running his summer camp this weekend and Floyd reportedly spent some time visiting the campus on Tuesday.

Coincidence?

Anonymous said...

paging...I also think that while you are correct that this is the first time he is really in the spotlight, he has been a high profile recruiter for a while now. If this were really his personality he likely would be making negative statements about other schools to recruits. That kind of thing usually gets out *cough* Bret Beilema *cough* I have not heard anything like that from anyone.

PJS said...

Maybe. Or maybe Brewster can effectively put on one face to certain crowds and another face to other crowds.

Just playing devil's advocate. Or maybe he was a couple drinks in!

Bryan said...

No way Brewster said those things. It doesn't make any sense. The obvious reason that this clown made up a story like this is to stir something up because it's no longer a lock Floyd is going to ND. Playing for Weis and with Jim Clausen might push Floyd to Indiana, but Brewster is a slick dude.

Anonymous said...

I'm not making it up! I was honestly just trying to joke with him as a conversation starter, knowing that coaches can't comment on specific players, but can talk about a school (ie Cretin-Derham). As a Minnesotan, the U of M is my second favorite program, and I have been impressed with Brewster from the start. I actually debated about whether to post my encounter, chalking it up to a bad day for the coach, but now for him to say Weis is a good friend? Unbelievable, from what I heard from his mouth. My feelings aren't hurt, I know a lot of people don't like Notre Dame, but we like Weis and don't think he is a disgrace by any means. And he doesn't deserve to be berated like that.

PJS said...

MN Irish, I pasted your comment into my new post on Brewster/Weis.

Anonymous said...

Why is this so hard to believe? Generally, people who spout BS 24/7 will say about anything about anyone.

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