Vrabel: Reese is piling on
FOXBOROUGH -- Mike Vrabel just shook his head and smiled.
"Never happened," he said. "Never happened."
The last time the Patriots played the Eagles, Week 2 of the 2003 season, Eagles linebacker Ike Reese said in a Sports Illustrated article, "Brian Westbook fumbled a punt, and we were all down there scrambling for it. Mike Vrabel had my testicles in his hand, and he was squeezing them. Where the football ends up depends on who has the strongest will or the strongest hands. Guys reach inside the facemask to gouge your eyes. But the biggest thing is the grabbing of the testicles. It's crazy."
Vrabel said, "It's the NFL and there's a lot of stuff that happens on the field. As NFL players you don't come into the locker room and start talking to the media about it. I've had everything -- you name it -- done to me out there. But you don't start saying this guy did this or did that."
Reese, selected to the Pro Bowl as a special teams player, is doing a playoff diary for the Philadelphia Daily News. Yesterday, he wrote about what to expect during Super Bowl week. He said, "I'm sure some of us will want to go to a few parties, but I think everyone will stay focussed. Wednesday is the shut-off day for me. I might do a few things early in the week, but once Wednesday evening comes, I'm getting ready for the game."
Vrabel spoke about the team dinner the night before the Super Bowl. He said the team gets to come together and not dwell so much about football, but just reflect on the season.
"It's a great dinner where you just sit around with the other linebackers and sit and talk and relax," Vrabel said. "You get those opportunities maybe once or twice a year. You do talk about the game, but things have been going so crazy. There's a team chapel and Mass. It's not like the regular season because it's the last game and guys have a tendency to just get away and be with their families and go on vacation. So it's a nice little way to just catch up with guys before the big game."
Richard Seymour seems to be doing more in practice. Sources close to Seymour are becoming more confident he'll play Feb. 6, but he hasn't gone all out in practice yet. That could take place Wednesday . . . Aside to the Eagles' Terrell Owens: The Patriots have one player with a skill and injury clause -- Corey Dillon. The running back would have received a guaranteed $1.75 million had he suffered a career-ending injury or if his talent level was not up to what the team thought when they signed him . . . Backup quarterback Jim Miller -- and not the more mobile Rohan Davey -- played the role of Donovan McNabb this week on the scout team . . . The Patriots signed linebacker Grant Steen for the 2005 season . . . A sendoff for the Patriots takes place tomorrow from 9-11 a.m. outside Gillette Stadium. Governor Mitt Romney, owner Bob Kraft, and the players will have a chance at the microphone to greet their well-wishers . . . The Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and his Pennsylvania counterpart, Ed Rendell, couldn't reach an agreement earlier in the week on a Super Bowl bet involving food, but have finally come up with a wager. The loser will travel to the winner's state and, during a game between the cities' NBA teams, sing the national anthem in his rival city's jersey. Romney is willing to display his pipes, but if the Eagles lose, Rendell's wife, Midge, a trained opera singer, will perform for Celtics' fans . . . Tonight's "Patriots All Access" (Channel 5, 7-8 o'clock) features a conversation with coordinators Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis, who are coaching together with the Patriots for the last time in Super Bowl XXXIX. Coach Bill Belichick looks at the Eagles' defense on the "Belestrator," and former Patriot Tim Fox sits at the round table with host Mike Lynch.
Bill Griffith of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
