A New England Patriots fan kept his cool while a Las Vegas Raiders supporter began heckling him following the Raiders’ win over the Patriots. Now, the man has been praised for showing restraint with free tickets to their next NFL game.
Jerry Edmond attended his first NFL game at Allegiant Stadium in Nevada on Sunday, 18 December. While at the game, he was verbally harassed by a woman wearing a Raiders’ Derek Carr jersey following the Raiders’ 30-24 victory over the Patriots.
A viral video posted to Twitter captured the woman heckling Edmond, who was seen wearing a Tom Brady jersey. In the clip, which has been viewed on Twitter 17.8m times, the unnamed woman is seen yelling in Edmond’s face while a man struggles to pull her away.
Edmond keeps quiet and maintains a straight face as the woman gets more visibly angry. She then kisses the man who tried to pull her back and high fives fellow Raiders fans in the stands. Towards the end of the video, she turns back to Edmond and yells in his face once more.
“Someone find me this man. I owe him a beer,” said Brian Babz, who tweeted the video on 20 December. “Entire game this lady was chirping at him for CHEERING for the Patriots in ‘her’ stadium. Absolute sh*t ending for NE & she’s up in his face. He stayed calm after seeing the worst loss ever. I know I wouldn’t. He deserves some love.”
On Tuesday, Edmond replied to the tweet and identified himself as the man in the video.
“I’d like to thank everyone for all the kind words,” he said. “I’m the Patriots fan in the video, my name is Jerry Edmond and that was my first ever NFL game. I didn’t want to ruin my experience by retaliating towards that woman so I kept my cool.”
In an Instagram Live chat on Wednesday, Edmond told Babz what he thinks led to the woman’s outburst.
“For the most part of the first half I was silent because the Raiders were up. They already were chirping and I guess one of the things I said that got her to come towards me was every time Derek Carr messed up, I’d scream ‘That’s the Derek Carr I know,’” he said, referring to the Raiders quarterback.
Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan praised Edmond’s behavior, tweeting: “On behalf of the Raiders, we appreciate the way you conducted yourself. No fan should have to endure that type of behavior. We will be in touch.”
Now, Edmond has been given a special surprise after showing such composure. Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots chairman and CEO, called Edmond personally on Wednesday and invited him to their home game against the Cincinnati Bengals on 24 December, according to Patriots reporter Alexandra Francisco.
Not only did Edmond accept the invitation, but he will also receive a customised jersey and pregame field passes to join the team during warmups.
