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            In my six seasons in the NFL, I have always taken responsibility for my actions, both on and off the field. I am here today to explain and accept responsibility for the incident in which I was involved  following our game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.  

As the team prepared to depart after the game, I asked Coach Belichick if I could stay due to the weather conditions, you know I am a little bit scared of flying. I did not want to fly because of the storm which you all know.

He gave me permission to stay, along with Troy Brown and Terry Glenn. On our ride back from the airport, I contacted some old friends who live in Buffalo. We met and went to a nightclub just over the Canadian border. On Monday morning, I was scheduled to leave at 6:25 a.m. on a flight coming back here to make the team meeting at 1:00 p.m.

As I was returning to the airport, a woman who is an acquaintance of my friends—who I met that night- offered me a ride to the airport. We were the only ones in the car. Contrary to published reports, Terry Glenn and Troy Brown were not with me at the time.

As we were going to the airport, we had to come to the border. The customs agents asked questions regarding the registration of the woman's car that I was with. That led to a search of the car. In that search, agents found that the woman had a small amount of marijuana and that led to the search of my bags. In the bag that I was carrying they found a small bag of pills that they determined were the pills known as the drug called ecstasy.

The agents told me that due to the small quantity of pills, I would not be arrested. I agreed to pay a $700 administrative fine and was allowed to continue to the airport. Because I was detained for that time, I wasn't able to catch the 6:25 a.m. flight that I was scheduled to take and I took the next direct flight at 12:15 p.m.

I know this incident has raised questions about my behavior and my character and I just made a bad decision. What I did was a disservice to Mr. Kraft, the Patriots Organization, my teammates, most importantly my family and especially Terry Glenn and Troy Brown.

I apologize for the embarrassment that I caused because this is not part of my character. I also apologize to the fans and the hundreds of thousands of people that have supported me over the last six years as a Patriot. It is very disturbing and I apologize. It was a thoughtless mistake that I made and that's why I am here. I wanted to be here.

With regard to the drugs that were found in my possession, I want to make it absolutely clear that these drugs did not belong to me. The drugs were found in a bag owned by a relative who used to live with me. I grabbed the bag not knowing what was in the bag and I didn't check the contents. You know rushing out for the game the other day I just grabbed the bag, but I assure you that it wasn't mine.

My relative has told me, along with Coach Belichick, that the drugs were his. I know this sounds stupid and maybe a little bit unbelievable, but that it is the truth, it is the honest to God's truth.

I have never purchased illegal drugs in my life. I have never done illegal drugs. As a matter of fact, I witnessed it first hand within my own family and I know that pain and the things that it brings and I would never put that pain on myself or anybody else in my family, but yes, I do accept the responsibility that comes along with this. I do accept the fact that I had illegal drugs in my possession, but I will assure you again that I had no idea that is was in the bag.

I have met with Coach Belichick and I apologized. I told him just what I told you and I spoke from the heart.
In retrospect, I regret that I just didn't get on the plane with the rest of my teammates and none of this would have happened and I guess my fear of flying led up to this. My unprofessional conduct led to this situation. I plead guilty as charged to the bad decision that I made and that is the only thing that I can plead guilty to. It was just a bad decision because I did not knowingly commit an illegal act.

I know I will have to suffer the consequences from my behavior and I am prepared for that. I ask you the media, my fans, my friends, family, coaches to somehow, some way forgive me for what has happened. I think the people that know me well that have had some type of a relationship with me through these years know that I am not a drug user. They know that I have had substance abuse in my family and that I am just not that type of person and that is not in my character.

Once again, I want to thank you for coming, taking out the time and I really appreciate you guys being here to hear me out and as far as I am concerned this is a closed and shut case. I just thank you for being here and I just wanted to give you the explanation so you all have a better understanding of what you are dealing with when you are dealing with Ty Law. I am sorry again and I appreciate it. Thank you.

Again I just want to make it clear that I am accepting the responsibility for what happened. I am not trying to duck it, I am not trying to dodge it. You guys wouldn't let me do it anyway, but I am really being sincere about it. I had no idea that these drugs were in my bags in my possession. I don't even know where they are or what they contain and I am willing to do whatever it takes, drug testing or anything else, just to have some sort of peace of mind and hopefully give you guys some peace of mind.

Thank you.