Bonds' Trainer, Anderson, contacted Patriots QB Tom Brady about workout

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New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady has peripherally emerged in the BALCO investigation, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Federal prosecutors will try to convince a judge on Thursday to throw Barry Bonds' personal trainer back in jail for refusing to testify, this time before a newly assembled grand jury that is also reportedly investigating track coach Trevor Graham and other athletes.

And the Daily News says that in a statement to prosecutors about his intention to keep quiet, Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson invoked Brady's name, effectively dragging the three-time Super Bowl winner into what the newspaper called biggest drug scandal in U.S. sports history, saying the two had talked on the telephone, but never made further contact.

"I had only one brief conversation with Tom Brady regarding a potential future workout," Anderson reportedly said in the statement to prosecutors that was included in court documents unsealed on Wednesday in San Francisco. "I never had another phone conversation with him and never discussed it with anyone."

Even if Brady is only remotely tied to Anderson, the Daily News claims the star QB could be subjected to questions from the federal government, just like numerous other professional athletes.

Brady was mysteriously absent for several days near the start of training camp. No reason was given for his absence.

Paula Canny, an Anderson attorney, reportedly said Brady's name appears along with "10 to 20" other athletes that Anderson's grand jury subpoena lists as people the trainer should be prepared to answer questions about.

Canny also reportedly said that investigators may have gotten Brady's name from phone records phone records seized by the government, though Anderson did not refer to any other athletes in his brief statement.

Brady, at the Daily News points out, attended the same Bay Area high school as Bonds. Brady's agent, Donald Yee, could not be reached by the newspaper for comment. And the Patriots refused to comment on Anderson's statement.

"I don't have any information on it," Patriots spokesman Stacey James said. "I'm not going on hearsay."

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Brady: I never worked out with BALCO trainer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Tom Brady was looking for a place to work out when he called Barry Bonds' personal trainer "five or six years ago" but the two never got together, the New England Patriots quarterback said Thursday.
"That was the first of it and the last of it," Brady said after practice. "I never heard from him again."

Government lawyers are investigating whether the San Francisco Giants slugger lied under oath when he told an earlier grand jury he didn't know whether his trainer, Greg Anderson, gave him substances that were steroids.

In a statement to federal prosecutors unsealed on Wednesday, Anderson said he had also spoken to Brady on the phone.

"I had only one brief conversation with Tom Brady regarding a potential future workout," Anderson said. "I never had another phone conversation with him and never discussed it with anyone."

Brady confirmed what Anderson said and stressed that he never did work out with Anderson. "No athlete likes to be brought up in stuff like that," he said.

A two-time Super Bowl MVP, Brady was the guest of first lady Laura Bush at the 2002 State of the Union, where the President singled him out as a role model for drug-free sports.

"Trying to be a role model for children, that's what I'm all about. That's what I stand for," Brady said. "I have a family I represent. I have a team I represent. I try to do that the best I can."

Brady, who attended the same Bay Area high school as Bonds, said he was back home one offseason and got the names of a few trainers who could help him work out. He reached Anderson, who was out of town at the time.

"I think he was at spring training," Brady said after the Patriots' last practice before Saturday night's exhibition game against the Arizona Cardinals. "It was before anyone knew Greg Anderson or who he was."

Brady said he had never been approached about steroids - either at Michigan or in the NFL.

"I was lucky. I never had to make those tough decisions," he said. "If you wanted to do steroids, I'm sure you could go out and get them. But you have a code of ethics you play by. It's the same thing when you're on the field, the same thing when I play golf.

"I don't cheat at golf. It's just kind of the way you live your life. It's about integrity, you choose to make certain decisions."