ORLANDO, Fla. — Whether it be jealousy, a reputation for dirty tactics or the grumbly demeanor of head coach Bill Belichick, there are LOTS of people who don't like the New England Patriots.
But on Thursday New York Jets safety Jamal Adams took things to a new level.
Adams was interacting with fans at the Pro Bowl skills challenge in Orlando when he spotted Patriots mascot Pat Patriot. Instead of saying something, or taking a mocking picture Adams lined up Pat Patriot and blew up the unsuspecting mascot with a bone-rattling tackle.
“He [the mascot] was running around and everybody was booing him, so I said, ‘You know what? Let me go tackle him,’ Adams said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “I didn’t hit him that hard, man. All jokes aside, I didn’t hit him that hard. I don’t know what’s really going on, but they did tell me he’s in the hospital. My intention was never to hurt him. it was all about just a joke but I definitely want to check on him and make sure everything is good. At the end of the day we were out here just having fun and it wasn’t nothing intentionally to try to hurt the guy.”
Adams says he was just trying to add some levity to the occasion, but told reporters that he sent the mascot to the hospital with injuries. He also said his phone was blowing up with calls from the NFL, anticipating that he would be fined for his actions.
The Patriots, for their part, denied that Pat Patriot was hospitalized after the incident, claiming their mascot was treated in a medical tent on the scene. In fact, the Pat Patriot Twitter account seemed to imply that everything was business as usual.
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