Spokane fan raises funds to bail out Brady, Patriots
A Spokane man is the unlikely fan behind an online fundraiser that’s trying to raise $1 million to pay the Patriots’ fine for allegedly under-inflating their footballs.
The fundraiser gained national media attention Tuesday on sites including Bleacher Report, Buzzfeed and the New York Daily News.
The man, who is raising money under the name Michael J. Whitman, lives in east Spokane and said he’s actually an Eagles fan. But he and a friend are banding together to draw attention to NFL fines they believe are too expensive.
“I don’t feel like they should be fined a million dollars. That’s just excessive,” he said.
He said he wasn’t in a position to know whether the Patriots actually cheated by deflating footballs, but said his larger concern is about the magnitude of the fine, not whether the Patriots deserve some type of punishment.
His hope is to draw attention to the issue so the NFL will re-think its fine structure.
“They take advantage of celebrities because of the money they make, they try to overprice these fines,” he said.
Michael Whitman isn’t his real name. He said he didn’t want people second-guessing his motives or thinking he started the page to get famous, so he asked to remain anonymous.
The fundraiser has been shared about 4,500 times and has garnered some enthusiastic comments from other Pats fans.
It’s not the first time he and the friend have tried to raise money to support football players. He said they also started a fundraiser for Marshawn Lynch after the Seahawks running back was fined last season for not speaking to the media.
Some have criticized the fundraiser, saying there are far worthier causes to donate money to. The Patriots are owned by Roger Kraft, currently valued at $4.3 billion according to Forbes.
The man agrees that better causes are out there, but believes supporting Tom Brady and the Patriots saves them money which they can pass along to people in need.
“That allows him to be able to open up his pocketbook to spread it to more charities,” he said.
As of Tuesday night, the fundraiser had raised more than $12,000.