Drew Brees Struck By Cosmically Dumb Stunt

A video purporting to show Drew Brees being struck by lightning while filming a commercial in Venezuela went viral on Friday morning despite some pretty obvious clues that it was fake. Perhaps because PointsBet, which features Brees as a brand ambassador, sent out a tweet saying that they were monitoring the situation and it'd be really stupid if they were to pretend he was struck by lightning. But what people didn't account for is that we live in some strange times.

Estrella de la @NFL @drewbrees fue impactado por un relámpago en el Catatumbo mientras grabábamos un comercial al sur del lago de Maracaibo. Pasó hace unas horas. Más información en breve... pic.twitter.com/b8PQdRpdtN
— Rafael Hernández (@sincepto) December 2, 2022

We are aware of the media coverage regarding PointsBet brand ambassador Drew Brees. We are in communication with Brees' team and will continue to monitor events throughout the coming hours. At this stage we will not be making any further comment.
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) December 2, 2022

This caused serious Big J journalists to reach out and confirm that Brees did not receive a potentially fatal jolt of electricity to his system while trying to shill something in a thunderstorm. Which is good news — except for the bettors who had a future ticket banking on the future Hall of Fame quarterback being struck down from above.

I just texted Drew Brees. He said he's good and that he did not get struck by lightning.
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) December 2, 2022

As ideas go, this was certainly one.