Heavy wait champions

Football players have a love-hate relationship with the monster of hype and mythology we have come to know as "Monday Night Football." They love being on national television, providing entertainment for parties (pass the Cheez-Its) across America. But they hate waiting around all day.

"I'm a Sunday, 1 o'clock guy," says Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi.

Most of his teammates are the same. Before taking on the Broncos tonight, the Patriots will hang around their hotel (conveniently located near nothing, thanks to their diabolical "no distractions" coach) all day, waiting for that first crack of the shoulder pads. It is an unnatural rest for young men who are programmed to get out of bed, get dressed, and run straight into the nearest goal post.

Those who stayed at the team hotel won't soon forget the sight of Patriots long-snapper Lonie Paxton practicing his hikes in the lobby last December in Nashville when New England last played a Monday night game.

"Actually I have some friends there, and one of the kids who was visiting is an aspiring long-snapper," says Paxton. "So I gave the kid some pointers while we were waiting around. The Monday night games are always harder on the road because you're sitting around the hotel all day. I get antsy. I've got to walk around. I can't just lay in the bed. It's a lot better to play them at home because at least then you can chill at your house. Here, we just want to get the hell out of the hotel and go."

Coach Bill Belichick's selection of hotels adds to the tedium. We're not talking downtown Denver, people. Picture your typical industrial park Sheraton/Holiday Inn Express in Framingham and you can imagine the lack of temptation that surrounds the bored ballplayers.

Quarterback Tom Brady says, "I think the tough part is laying around, getting your body clock changed, then warming up at 5:30 in the afternoon instead of 11:30 in the morning. You get restless, especially on a big night. You're laying around the hotel, trying to watch as many movies as you can. You can't sleep because you're anxious. I like playing cards to pass the time. I know last year we waited around all day in Tennessee and I don't think we played that well [24-7 loss]. I guess the older you get, the more you just go out there and play when they tell you to play."

Eight-year veteran Bobby Hamilton agrees.

"You've got to report to every game the same, man," he says. "You can't worry about late games. All preseason games are late, so this is just another game. We've just got to go out there and play. That's business. You evaluate what you've got to do in the game. We know it's a long time to get focused, but you can't get all hyped with your blood flowing too early or you'll be drained by the time it's time to play."

"Monday Night Football" has not been good luck for the Patriots. Neither has Denver football. The Patriots are 9-19 on Monday nights. They are 7-15 in Denver and went from 1968 to 2000 without a win in the Mile High City. The Patriots' most surreal moment on "MNF" came late in a game in December of 1980 at Miami when Howard Cosell told America that John Lennon had been killed while the Patriots were en route to another overtime loss to the Dolphins.

Bruschi says he only watches the first half when he's not playing in the Monday night game.

"I conk out at halftime, that's as late as I can go," says the linebacker.

Belichick makes no extra effort to watch "MNF" during the season.

"I'm usually in bed," says the coach. "If it's a division game, or you're playing the team next week, you might try to stay up and watch a good part of that one. But TV scouting is hard. You don't get a lot out of it. I don't watch very many Monday night games. My kids usually have it on, so it's not like the game's not on, but it's not a big thing for me where I'm breaking the speed limit to get home so I can see the game."

How does the coach feel about all the extra downtime that comes when his team plays "MNF" road games?

"When you play preseason games at night, it's basically the same schedule, so we've been through it a few times this year," he says. "You have a meeting in the morning, around 11 to try to break up the day a little bit. Go back through your end-of-the-week preparation, similar to what you would do Saturday night for a Sunday game. You do it the day of the game.

"Then you get a couple-hour break and a pregame meal and then you go play. In Denver, the [two-hour] time change takes a couple of hours out of the middle of the day. You're just kind of laying around all day waiting for the pregame meal to come, waiting for the bus to the stadium. And then once you get to that point, then you're in it.

"I think sometimes guys get a little antsy, a little itchy. We have two buses that go to the game from the hotel. We probably have more guys on the early bus in a situation like that. They just want to get over there and get going. Not that you can speed it up any, but you feel like you're going quicker.

"The worst thing about Monday night is when you're on the road, you come back really late, so you don't get home 'til real early Tuesday morning. You're further behind than you normally are and you're tired. But this doesn't apply this time because we have the bye."

Anything else specific to Monday night, Coach?

"I do think that the Monday night game does put a little more spotlight on that game and there's nothing wrong with that."

The spotlight can bring out some silly stuff, too.

"I've seen receivers get together and practice what they're going to do after they make a catch," the coach says with a roll of his eyes. "I can't wait to get into those kind of preparations."

But he will wait. They'll all wait. The Patriots are on "Monday Night Football" tonight and there's just not enough to do until the early bus leaves at 3:45.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.