A Vikings fan came back to a charred rental car while attending the Jets game in New York over the weekend ... but it's not what you think.
Gina Smith and her friends headed to Boston for her birthday and since they were in the neighborhood, thought they'd day-trip it to the Vikings game on Sunday.
They took a rental car and parked at one of the MetLife Stadium's lots, then took their purple pride into the game.
But when they went to find their car afterwards, it looked a tad different than how they left it.
"We went to go find (it) and we were like, 'Hey, where's our car?' It should have been where this burnt out car is," Smith said. "And then it was like, 'oh crap.'"
Yes, as crisp as a fall day was their rental Hyundai.
Smith said they didn't get any information on what happened and there were no witnesses, but there was a grill on their vehicle (that was also burnt to a crisp).
"I honestly think it was just an accident due to people being really careless and negligible to leave hot coals out in a parking lot on a windy day," Smith said.
“We didn't think it was intentional. It was a rental so it didn't have Vikings horns or anything on it, so we were pretty sure they weren't targeting us."
Sadly, she’s right. The Jets fans aren't sore losers, they just seem to be irresponsible tailgaters - as Gina’s car in addition to six others burned Sunday because the pre-party BBQ coals weren't put out correctly.
They filed a police report but were told the stadium property is out of the department's jurisdiction, plus, the stadium is not liable for anything that happens on their property.
After the game Smith and her Minnesota crew were in a real pickle, because they rented the car and drove from Boston.
“We had called the rental car company at the advice of my insurance company and the person was saying, well, take a taxi or Uber home," Smith explained. "And we were like, 'We are four hours away, we can’t take a taxi back to Boston!”
Smith said a parking lot attendant took pity on them and drove them to the airport so they could get a new rental car, before making the trek back to Boston.
"Unfortunately, I think we're stuck with the deductible 'cause we have no idea who caused the fire," she said. "The whole thing was just such a nightmare."
And if you are wondering, no, she didn’t buy extra insurance with the rental.
“I’m a good driver," she said. "I wasn’t thinking, 'Well, is there a chance my car is going to get burned to the ground by Jets fans tailgating?' No, that didn't cross my mind.”
Still, no one was injured and that's something Smith is grateful for.
"Honestly when getting our rental car the thought that we should get the extra insurance because Jets fans might burn our car to the ground never crossed my mind," she said. "Coming back to a burnt out car isn't exactly how I wanted to celebrate a Vikings win."