Romney wishes Brady well

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

GLEN ELLYN, Ill. -- Guess who’s surprisingly cozy with the Patriots’ star quarterback? No, not Giselle Bündchen.

"I exchanged emails yesterday with Tom Brady, and he’s a friend," former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney told reporters today. "And I wish him the very best and I wish the team the very best,"

The Republican presidential candidate revealed this nugget when he was asked, as a Patriots fan, how he felt about his chief rival, John McCain, watching the Super Bowl at the Green Dragon Tavern near Faneuil Hall in Boston today.

That prompted a reporter to follow up with a question about how Brady’s ankle is feeling. Suddenly, the press conference sounded like a pre-game session with Bill Belichick at Gillette Stadium, not a political Q&A at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

"No business at all was conducted," Romney said, not wanting to mire himself in a sports controversy. "I just wish him the very best and feel the Patriots are going to be very successful today."

He sounded a bit irked, however, that McCain has chosen to stump in his home state. Romney is campaigning today in Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee and plans to catch snippets of the game in between stops.

"For me, this is not about trying to tweak somebody or get in their head," Romney said. "This is about getting delegates and becoming the nominee."

He predicted he would beat McCain in Massachusetts on Tuesday.

"But if he wants to spend time in Massachusetts, fine," Romney said. "I don't think it will help him a lot."