[Wow] Drew Brees Mother is a Real Scumbag...

ima_drummer2k · Jul 29, 2009

Some of you Austin people may have already known this, but I had no idea. Sucks to be Drew.

Restaurants not happy at what lawyer serving (nice headline, chronicle...)

By MIKE TOLSON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
July 28, 2009, 9:23PM

Scores of Houston restaurant owners received a letter from an Austin attorney last week offering them the “opportunity” to purchase one thing that all believed was already and irrefutably theirs — their name.

The letter, addressed “to whom it may concern,” informed the restaurateurs that their assumed names on file with the Harris County Clerk had expired. The new owner of all these names, a company called Chicksports Inc., was willing to sell each one back. The price? Some owners were told $25,000, others $20,000. The letter ended with what some considered a threat.

“If you have not contacted me by email or phone by August 14, 2009, Chicksports will explore its legal options for your use of the assumed name it now owns or contact other parties interested in owning the reservation of the right to this assumed name,” attorney Mina Brees wrote.

Brees, the mother of NFL quarterback Drew Brees, also happens to be the president and registered agent for Chicksports. She did not return phone calls from the Chronicle, but in a brief e-mail Brees said that her client does not plan to maintain control over most of the names. Assumed names expire after 10 years.

“My client intends to release any assumed names it reserved in the next week or so, because it has selected the assumed name it wishes to use for its business,” Brees said in her e-mail. “However, it is important to know that once an assumed name is released, other individuals or entities will have the opportunity to reserve that name.”

Brees did not explain why she applied for the expired names or describe the nature of the business Chicksports was pursuing.

‘I was panicked at first'

Local restaurateurs did not know what to make of the letter.

Many were alarmed at first, fearing they could lose control of their public identity.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh my God, what is this?' I have heard such horror stories over the years,” said Elouise Adams Jones, owner of Ouisie's Table near River Oaks. “I was panicked at first. I thought I had missed something terrible. My assumed name had expired, so that made me concerned that I had a problem.”

Word spread quickly

Carmelo Mauro, owner of Carmelo's Italian Restaurant in west Houston, said he was “shocked” by the letter — and by the notion of paying someone to keep using a name that has been on his sign since 1981.

“The first reaction is, ‘No way I will pay $25,000,' ” Mauro said. “I will change the name to Carmelo's Cucina Italiano or something else. You start thinking so many things.”

Mauro did not know whether the letter was serious, but he was worried enough to call the Texas Restaurant Association. Over the next few days he found out that other local restaurateurs had received similar letters. Some of them had been offered their names back for “only” $20,000.

Calls and e-mails quickly went out from one owner to another and then to the restaurant group. Its general counsel, Glen Garey, was stunned when he finally read a copy of Brees' letter. It contained an ominous message, underlined and in all capital letters, at the top: “This letter contains information which is important to your business entity.”

“I was almost shaking I was so mad when I saw that letter,” Garey said. “I'm a member of the bar, and it's embarrassing for someone in our profession to do something like that.”

He reassured members that the letters carried no weight and posted an alert advising as much on the association's Web site.

“DO NOT PAY …” Garey wrote in capital letters. “The assumed name statute says clearly that there is no need to file an assumed name if your corporate name is your business name … .”

The owners' own lawyers reassured them with similar advice. Jeffrey Horowitz, who represents the owners of Shade, a restaurant in Houston Heights, said the letter made little sense from a legal standpoint.

“It looks like a weak attempt to do something like cyber squatting, but the law in Texas is such that — with trade names and trademarks — first use usually prevails,” Horowitz said. “Why they would send a letter like that … doesn't make any sense unless they were trying to take advantage of a restaurateur who does not know the law.”

Not her first publicity

Geary said he made no attempt to contact Brees. So far, he said, the restaurant association has not taken any action against her.

“I figured any attorney who would do something like that would not be disabused of their plans by a simple phone call,” he said.

Brees was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Texas Court of Appeals in 2006. She gained a dollop of national publicity when her son, who plays for the New Orleans Saints, demanded that she stop using him in her television campaign commercials.

Drew Brees characterized their relationship as “nonexistent,” and told the Austin American-Statesman at the time that as he had gotten older he had become more aware of his mother's “lies and manipulation.”

LINK
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rhadamanthus · Jul 29, 2009

Carmelo Mauro, owner of Carmelo's Italian Restaurant in west Houston, said he was “shocked” by the letter — and by the notion of paying someone to keep using a name that has been on his sign since 1981. “The first reaction is, ‘No way I will pay $25,000,' ” Mauro said. “I will change the name to Carmelo's Cucina Italiano or something else. You start thinking so many things.”
Click to expand...

Change it to:

Carmelo's Italiano F Mina Brees

DCkid · Jul 29, 2009

ugh...sounds like a horrible person.

lpbman · Jul 29, 2009

I am stunned that Drew turned out to be such a well respected, stand up citizen... considering.

leroy · Jul 29, 2009

It's pretty common knowledge in Austin that she is a total wacko. Her son has completely disowned her. The story is that she lost it when he refused to sign her as his agent when he entered the draft out of Purdue.

KingCheetah · Jul 29, 2009

Mina Brees sounds like a powerful business woman that men are afraid of dealing with.

Last edited by Drew Brees mom: Today at 8:33 AM

DreamRoxCoogFan · Jul 29, 2009

well... she is a lawyer.

professorjay · Jul 29, 2009

rhadamanthus said:

Change it to:

Carmelo's Italiano F Mina Brees
Click to expand...

<embed src='http://www.mtv.com/humangiant/player/embed/' width='540' height='405' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' FlashVars='CONFIG_URL=http://www.mtv.com/humangiant/player/embed/configuration.jhtml%3Fid%3D1580646%26vid%3D144268&allowFullScreen=true' allowFullScreen='true' base='.' allowScriptAccess='always' ></embed><br />via <a href="http://www.videosift.com/video/Human-Giant-Paul-Scheer-Is-A-Total-Douchebag-Pizzeria" title="Human Giant: Paul Scheer Is A Total Douchebag Pizzeria">videosift.com</a>

Mother Brees sounds like a miserable human being.

rocketsjudoka · Jul 29, 2009

It sounds like what she is doing is at the min. unethical but is it illegal? Also since she's a lawyer could a complaint be made to the Bar about her and have her license sanctioned?

Baqui99 · Jul 29, 2009

She can EABOD and die in a fire.

DonnyMost · Jul 29, 2009

What a slimey POS human being.

I really get sick of hearing about this kind of crap.

Can't this country put some laws in place to prevent this kind of obvious abuse?

No more "gotcha" society please.

bnb · Jul 29, 2009

And she'd dumb too. Nobody's going to pay $20K+ without a fuss.

If she'd asked for $200 or so, she might have had a few bites. I know some people who fell for a scheme for a more reasonable amount to register .xxx domains for fear of losing their .com addresses based on a scam letter. And I've seen other 'registration' scams that almost seem plausible enough to put through the regular payables cycle.

moestavern19 · Jul 29, 2009

A real douchebagette.

rezdawg · Aug 9, 2009

Apparently, his mom passed away yesterday at the age of 59.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/08/brees-misses-scrimmage-after-mothers-passing/

SWTsig · Aug 9, 2009

rezdawg said:

Apparently, his mom passed away yesterday at the age of 59.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/08/brees-misses-scrimmage-after-mothers-passing/
Click to expand...

good for her

Miguel · Aug 9, 2009

rezdawg said:

Apparently, his mom passed away yesterday at the age of 59.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/08/brees-misses-scrimmage-after-mothers-passing/
Click to expand...

Carmelo Mauro, owner of Carmelo's Italian Restaurant in west Houston, said he was “shocked” by the letter — and by the notion of paying someone to keep using a name that has been on his sign since 1981. “The first reaction is, ‘No way I will pay $25,000,' ” Mauro said. “I will change the name to Carmelo's Cucina Italiano or something else. You start thinking so many things.”
Click to expand...

Ziggy · Aug 9, 2009

cardpire · Aug 9, 2009

holy crap. was just talking about this story 2 days ago.

sure seems like a sketchy death.

BetterThanEver · Aug 9, 2009

Miguel said:

Click to expand...

She shouldn't have tried to screw the Italian businessman.

KingCheetah · Aug 9, 2009

She should have never got involved in waste management.

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