10:00 AM EST on Friday, March 19, 2004

Journal file photo Ty Law continues his verbal assault on the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick in an apparent attempt to rile the team into releasing him.

The Ty Law "Hungry Man Tour" continues.

And each time he opens his mouth to a hand-picked cadre of sympathetic chroniclers, the words get more venomous.

Giving new meaning to the term "press corner," Law hit the national airwaves on Sporting News Radio yesterday. While there, the cornerback who's put the grunt in disgruntled said of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, "I guess you get paid to lie sometimes, because that's how he supports his family."

Even for a man such as Belichick, who's notoriously slow to rise to the bait, Law is getting harder to ignore. At what point does the organization go from slow burn to boil over Law's over-the-line words?

What's going on between Law and the Patriots is virtually unprecedented in these parts. It's a full-frontal assault in a transparent effort to force the Patriots to release him. Law obviously figures that if he can get the Patriots to fire him, he can then grab some open-market money while teams are still throwing it around.

So dignity be damned, the 30-year-old, four-time Pro Bowl player sees nothing wrong with libeling a man he openly lobbied the Krafts to hire in 2000.

Law has called Belichick a liar in so many different forums now, it may already be forgotten what the lie allegedly is. For fun, let's review. In Law's initial salvo in The Boston Globe two weeks ago, he said the Patriots agreed to negotiate with him for a new contract. He found the offer the Patriots made insulting. His agent came back with a new offer that the Patriots quickly dismissed. The Patriots then pushed away from the table and told Law they were content to let him play for his 2004 salary of $7 million.

So he was lied to because he didn't like what he heard? Law's definition of a lie is as deficient as his definition of insulting.

Then again, logic apparently is on holiday for Law.

Further evidence? Here is an exchange between Law and Sporting News Radio host James Brown during the big radio show:

"After our Super Bowl run (in 2001), Tom Brady was going through his whole contract thing (before the 2002 season). It was beginning to become a major distraction through our championship. This was the first Super Bowl. So I, myself, without anybody asking me, without anyone contacting my agent, I went to coach Belichick myself. After one of the practices I told coach if he needed some help, I understand that I have a high cap number, one of the higher cap numbers on the team. In order to put this under the table, I said, 'I know you guys are working to get Tom Brady done and a couple of other guys; I will rework some of my numbers for you, no problem. As long as I'm making my money that I am supposed to make this year, then go ahead and rework some of these numbers so you can get these guys done and we can defend our championship.' "

Interjecting here just to clarify, Ty Law -- great philanthropist -- was so selfless he allowed the Patriots to turn some of his salary from 2002 (nonguaranteed money) into guaranteed money. It's basically allowing the Patriots to put money in Law's back pocket instead of his front pocket. It's laughable. He's trying to make a point of showing he's not a greedy money-grubber, and in doing so he drops in the phrase, "As long as I'm making my money that I am supposed to make this year."

Somehow, Brown found this to be akin to funding a new library.

This was his follow-up question: "Wait a minute, you went to them and offered to rework your deal so they could sign Tom Brady and others?"

"Right. I went to him (Belichick)," Law continued. "He didn't come to me. I offered my contract, my money, to help the team. People don't hear about that. After all that went on, we talked a little bit and he said we are going to try to work on it. Then he came to me during the Pittsburgh game that week. He tapped me on the shoulder at breakfast and said, 'I need to take you up on that offer.' So, I said, 'Fine, no problem.' I can't remember if Tom was done at the time or what, but he needed to work the numbers to get some guys signed. That's when I reworked $2.7 million of my salary. I reworked it and I played with it. I didn't say, 'Give it to me now,' like a lot of guys do. . . . I did that and he took me up on that. Nothing else was ever said about that, but now I am a selfish player. That was strictly for the team, but now it's come down to me being able to protect myself."

Law has now unloaded locally, in USA Today and on national radio. It probably won't be long now before Tom Arnold and Ty are having a meeting of the minds on national talk TV.

The Patriots have shown in the past they have a cast-iron stomach when it comes to this stuff. They tolerated Terry Glenn until they got a fourth-round pick for him from Green Bay. But Law's flapping his gums a lot more than Glenn ever did. And it's only March. The tour is just getting warmed up. And the Patriots are still on a low simmer.