The Brandon Spikes Reunion Tour lasted all of 21 days.
The linebacker, whose signing was announced by the Patriots on May 18, has been released following an incident over the weekend where a car registered to him was abandoned on I-495 following a collision.
Early Sunday morning Massachusetts state troopers responded to a report of a vehicle in the median strip of Route 495 in Foxboro. The OnStar on-board navigation system informed police that the operator of the vehicle reported that the vehicle, a 2011 Mercedes Maybach registered to Spikes, hit a deer.
When troopers arrived on the scene, they found the car abandoned in the median strip with damage to its front end. There was no deer was located in the area.
A short time later, according to Mass State Police, troopers responded to a report of a 2009 Nissan Murano on Route 495, in the same area as the abandoned car. Those in the car reported they had been rear-ended by another vehicle that they did not see.
Three occupants of the Murano -- a 51-year-old man, a 32-year-old woman, and a 12-year-old boy, all of Billerica -- were transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.
At this point no charges have been filed, and no definitive connection has been made between the the incident that left the Maybach damaged and the incident that left the Murano damaged. Police say there is an investigation ongoing.
New England Patriots
Spikes was drafted by the Patriots in the second round in 2010 and spent four years with the team before departing as a free agent and joining the Buffalo Bills last season.
He met with reporters at Gillette Stadium last week for the first time since re-signing with the Patriots and said he had changed since his last stint with the team when he and the coaching staff were not always on the same page.
"We can clearly see that me and 'The Hoodie' kissed and made up," Spikes said. "I’m here, that’s in the past, and I’m moving on."
Spikes signed a one-year deal with New England to provide the team some linebacker depth as it deals with injuries at the position.
That Spikes made it back to New England was just as much a surprise to him as it was anyone who followed his rocky departure from the Patriots and the subsequent shots he took at how coach Bill Belichick ran his operation.
"I was a little bit surprised to hear his voice, the way I left," Spikes said. "I just want to show him I’ve changed as an individual, as a player, as a man. I’m going to just show him; better than just saying it, I’m going to show him."
Spikes was put on season-ending injured reserve in 2013 for what was reportedly not a debilitating injury, but rather a late arrival to a Friday practice.
"I don’t want to get into that," he said last week. "I think we’re both happy that I’m here and we were able to put things aside and let bygones be bygones. We’re all moving forward. The 2015 season is right around the corner and we’re just trying, each and every day, to get better. I’m happy to be home. This was the organization that drafted me, a first-class place. I’m very, very, very appreciative of that."