TYNES SEEKS PARDON FOR HIS BROTHER

New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes has hired a lawyer to request a presidential pardon for his brother, a convicted drug trafficker doing 27 years in prison. The Bureau of Prisons web site lists Mark Tynes as having a release date of November 8, 2026, but Lawrence Tynes is hoping that before President Bush leaves office on January 20, he will set Mark free. Lawrence Tynes rarely speaks publicly about his brother, but attorney Rober Ortiz told the New York Daily News that he thinks there’s a strong case to be made that 27 years was too harsh a sentence. “The situation that Mark found himself in was partly due to his own mistakes,” Ortiz said. “We have to make sure that what we submit is accurate and explains Mark’s position and why we believe the sentence is excessive.” Lawrence Tynes’ fame can’t hurt: When President Bush hosted the Giants at the White House after the Super Bowl, he made a point of mentioning Tynes’ game-winning field goal in the NFC Championship. It also can’t hurt that Ortiz is well-connected: He’s the finance chairman for the New Jersey Republican State Committee and he donated $2,000 to President Bush’s 2004 campaign. Still, Ortiz acknowledged that a pardon is a long shot, meaning Mark Tynes most likely has almost two more decades left behind bars.