Krause: Media needs to show more responsibility in wake of latest Brady saga

Suppose you twist your ankle a bit, and for precautionary measures, your doctor puts you in one of those casts/boots for a few days to keep it immobilized.Now, suppose some sneaky paparazzi-type photographer, or videographer, catches you while you’re walking down the street, with the boot clearly visible.As a private citizen, what are your rights? Do you deserve to have your foot injury broadcast all over the media? Especially if no one knows what the foot injury is?You’re not a private citizen, of course. You’re Tom Brady. And as initial reports, and pictures, flashed all over my television screen Monday about Brady’s “injury,” I could only think of one thing: It was grossly irresponsible for TV stations and newspapers to plaster it all over creation as if his foot was about to fall off.Whatever happened to reporting what you know? If someone has a picture of Tom Brady with a boot on his foot, then that’s the extent of what we knew Monday. Tom Brady somehow hurt his foot.We’ve since learned, through various sources, that he has a high ankle sprain, and that it’s not considered serious. Well, thank heavens for that.I suppose it’s necessary to give hourly medical updates on the president of the United States when he has a colonoscopy. But while Brady may be the best quarterback in the land right now, I’m not interested in breathless, hourly reports on the status of his ankle.We may know, now, that Brady has a sprained ankle. But we don’t know how it happened. We don’t know why. We don’t know if, because it’s his right foot (and his plant foot, for throwing purposes), that’s why he threw three interceptions Sunday.We don’t know when he hurt it, or on what play (ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski showed film of him twisting it on one play Sunday, but who knows, really?). All we know is that it’s injured.As Patriots coach Bill Belichick likes to say, “It is what it is.”And what it is, for now, is Brady must have hurt his foot, because he has one of those boots on. That’s it. That’s all we know.Does this mean we don’t try to get more information? Of course not. He’s Tom Brady. If he’s hurt, it’s a big story. The Patriots don’t win the Super Bowl without him. Backup Matt Cassel isn’t close to being Tom Brady. He’s not even close to being Jeff Hostetler, who subbed for Phil Simms in 1991 when the Giants (with both Belichick and present-day Giants coach Tom Coughlin on the staff) beat the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl.By all means, unearth every rock until you get the story. But in the meantime, put a lid on all the crazy headlines and phony diagnoses.The frustration and the overzealousness on the part of the media are certainly understandable. There’s no team in professional sports worse than the Patriots when it comes to manipulating the injury list (though the San Diego Chargers came very close for playing with information on both LaDainian Tomlinson AND Philip Rivers last week). The NFL injury report is a game, necessitated by the league’s fear of aiding and abetting gamblers (while, at the same time, sleeping with them in every other aspect of the business). It’s impossible to get a straight answer from any NFL coach about who’s injured and how badly.This skullduggery may be necessary, but if you’re a fan, you have a right to know whether someone of Tom Brady’s stature is injured seriously.Yet, for the sake of this profession and its vanishing credibility, it’s imperative to stick to what you know ? until you know something more.I’m sure anyone who reads this is a football fan; otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading it.But I think I can speak for a majority of people when I plead for perspective.There’s a week and a half to go until the Super Bowl, and that’s way too long to go without something concrete to report. And there is enormous pressure on reporters to come up with fresh, interesting stories during a time when there’s absolutely nothing fresh or interesting happening.But voila! Some paparazzi website posts pictures of Brady in a wa