The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/116680
said, 'Oh, really? The Tom Brady?' "I thought it was just a joke. When he said, 'Tom said he'd call you later,'" I said, 'Whatever.'" Fortunately for McKendry and Wojcik, Brady was diligent in trying to get his linemen fed the night before the game, a Patriots quarterback tradition … or it might just have been a craving for the wings, a favorite from his Michigan days. Brady called again later that night after McKendry and his wife, Theresa, returned from a walk. filled with hundreds of fans and a few security guards skeptical of his story. "They asked who my contact was, and I told them, 'Tom Brady.' They were like, 'right,'" McKendry recalled. "Then I remembered Tom had given me another name, so I gave it to them and they sent me up to the fifth floor. When we got there, there were two Detroit cops who stopped us there." Years earlier, Brady had just been another popular Michigan athlete to eat at Mister Spots and was generally Former U-M All-American goalie Marty Turco "Business, like pretty much everything in life, is all about relationships, and they've got that one down pat. And by the way, they've got food you just want to die for." "Mister Spots was a great spot to go with my friends for great food and a fun environment. Keith was always so supportive of the football team, and it was fun for us to support them," Brady recalled. "The respect I have for Keith and his willingness to prepare and deliver the food to us before the game against the Lions was why I called back." Feeding an NFL offensive line is like feeding a small army, so McKendry and Wojcik got to work early the next day on the huge order, one that included pans of onion rings and fries, literally hundreds of wings and dozens of hoagies. That, though, was only half the battle. When McKendry and his wife showed up in downtown Detroit at the Marriott where the Patriots were staying, they encountered a lobby left alone to eat in peace. He'd take time to joke with the employees, even betting McKendry that Brady's San Francisco Giants would make it to the World Series before McKendry's Cleveland Indians. "Now, it was unbelievable. You'd have thought we were going to see the President or something," McKendry said with a laugh. "But they finally let us through, and all of a sudden the big linemen came in and asked, 'What are we eating?' Tom came through and told them what we had, gave us a big hug and physically introduced us individually to each of his offensive linemen." That reception and the big order would have been more than enough, but McKendry got a bonus the next day on the way out of the stadium. His phone exploded with texts and