Report: The Patriots Are Also In Bed With Tom Brady's Shady Fitness Guru

Tom Brady’s relationship with Alex Guerrero is well-documented and wide-ranging: Guerrero is Brady’s body coach, business partner, and trusted friend. He’s also been sued for fraud twice, including for a beverage called Neurosafe that he claimed could prevent concussions, as well as for another drink he claimed could cure cancer. Yet despite his well-established credentials as an almost-literal snake oil salesman who’s claimed his products are panaceas, Brady loves him and even pushes his nonsense on other prominent sportspeople.

We already knew that these people included Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini, but a new report from has revealed that the Patriots too are in business with Guerrero.

Guerrero’s past has not dissuaded the Patriots from forging a business relationship with the company he owns with Brady, the TB12 Sports Therapy Center, at the Patriots Place complex adjacent to Gillette Stadium. Since the center opened in 2013, the team has paid the company for Guerrero and his staff to provide treatment services and nutritional advice to multiple Patriots players.

The Globe did not determine how many players Guerrero and his staff have treated or how much money the Patriots have paid Brady and Guerrero’s company. The team and the two principals all declined to comment.

The Globe asked a former business partner about Guerrero’s capabilities as an entrepreneur and a trainer and he said about what you’d expect:

“I’ve seen Alex work as a massage therapist and he’s impressive,’’ said Michael Howell, who met Guerrero through the Mormon church — both are members — and partnered with him in a marketing enterprise that resulted in federal sanctions against both of them. “But as far as having him as a business partner or a friend in life, you’ve got the wrong guy.’’

The Patriots allowed him to work with their players despite clear looming legal shitstorm:

The Patriots and Brady permitted Guerrero to continue treating players and TB12 clients during a 14-month state investigation into allegations he was practicing physical therapy without a license. He was cleared last year in a letter instructing him to abide by state regulations in supervising licensed therapists at the TB12 center.

It’s a strange relationship that might actually violate NFL salary cap rules. Typically, physical therapy companies pay to sponsor NFL teams. But in this case, the Patriots are paying Guerrero (possibly as much as $200/hour), and Brady himself might be profiting.

If Brady profits from the arrangement, “then this would seem to be in violation of the salary cap, at least in spirit,’’ said Daniel Rascher, a sports economist at the University of San Francisco who has consulted for the NFL.

Anyway, The Boston Globe about Guerrero, his early life and rise to prominence, and how he’s somehow seduced some of the most powerful people in the NFL. It’s well worth a read.

Photo via Getty