Formula One’s Daniel Ricciardo might seem like an odd member of the Buffalo Bills fan club.
The McLaren star, one of F1’s most popular drivers and the winner of last month’s Italian Grand Prix, is the kind of person you associate with the sun. He grew up on Australia’s west coast and like most of his F1 rivals he lives amid the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo. His NBA team is the L.A. Lakers, his MLB team the L.A. Dodgers.
For the NFL, he seemingly also had a ready-made excuse to pick one of the Bills’ AFC North rivals, the New England Patriots.
The list of people who have caught a pass from Tom Brady sounds like a trivia night question, but Ricciardo can put his own spin on that claim to fame. As part of a promotional event at the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, Ricciardo, stood on one yacht in the Monte Carlo harbour, caught a pass thrown by then-Patriot Brady, stood on another yacht.
To most that would be a gift-wrapped reason to have supported the Patriots. Ricciardo didn’t want it.
“Obviously I met Brady and that was amazing, and awesome. But it would have felt like a bandwagon,” Ricciardo tells ESPN, speaking ahead of next weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix (Oct. 24, 1.30PM, live on ABC).
“The Brady pass was surreal. Not just to receive the pass, but to do yacht to yacht was crazy.
“First one I caught, then I got cocky and said ‘let’s go further [back]’. We reversed the boat and I didn’t quite catch the next couple.
“[But] everyone was Brady and Patriots, so I thought I’d do something a little different.
“I forced myself not to go for a California team. I was like, let’s change it up a little. I thought I’m going to go for something a little out of the box.”
‘Out of the box’ for Ricciardo was Buffalo. Supporting the Bills right now might seem like jumping on a bandwagon — sitting at 4-1 atop the AFC North, the Bills seem like sure-fire Super Bowl…
Source : espn
