AUSTIN (AP) - New Orleans Saints' quarterback Drew Brees has asked his mother to stop using his picture in TV commercials touting her candidacy for a Texas appeals court.
In commercials running on Austin stations, Mina Brees had been using a picture of her son in the uniform of his former team, the San Diego Chargers, to emphasize her ties to football.
"I think the major point here is that my mother is using me in a campaign, and I've made it known many times I don't want to be involved," Drew Brees said Monday.
Mina Brees, an Austin attorney, is running as a Democrat for a spot on Texas' 3rd Court of Appeals. She said replacement commercials that omit any mention of her son were taped last week and sent to stations on Friday.
She said she did not anticipate upsetting her son and that "everything in the ad was true."
She said her connection to football is relevant to her campaign because her father, a successful high school coach, used sports to teach her a strong work ethic that she would bring to the judicial bench.
Drew Brees, who won a state football championship with Westlake High School in suburban Austin, said he got no response from his mother when he first heard about the ads and called her to ask that she stop using them. His agent sent her a letter Oct. 20 threatening legal action, he said.
He called his relationship with his mother "nonexistent" after it crumbled six years ago when he refused to hire her as his agent.
Mina Brees said her son's allegations were a mischaracterization and that she had no intention of becoming his agent.
"I love Drew very much, and I'm very proud of him. But sometimes when people are following a career path, they change," she said.
Mina Brees also said she did not receive any messages asking her to exclude her son from her campaign.
Jill Fredericks, sales director for KVUE Television, said the station received a new version of Mina Brees' commercial late Friday. The old version stopped running Sunday and the new one was scheduled to begin Tuesday, she said.
Mina Brees is challenging incumbent Republican Justice David Puryear in next week's election. The appeals court reviews civil and criminal cases from 24 counties in Central and West Texas.
