Although he is fantastic behind the wheel of an F1 car, Daniel Ricciardo is also very much invested in other sports such as the NFL. The Australian is an admirer of not only the American football league but also the splendid athletes that make the sport such a success. Naturally, one of those elite athletes is Tom Brady. On one occasion, the duo played football on the waters of Monaco and it became an instant hit. However, it garnered a fair amount of criticism as well.
Footage released by ESPN on Twitter showed Brady throwing a football from the back of a ship to Ricciardo, who caught it while he was on a different yacht. Some praised the F1 driver for his reflexes, while others alleged that it was an edited video. Ricciardo, sharing his side of the story, recently opened up on it during an interview with ESPN’s Unlapped.
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The Honey Badger told ESPN on the famous throw in Monaco, “The catch was first take but I saw a few people reference like the ball so I think they cut to two different camera, two different shots because he threw I think three in total so I guess the best shot that they got of him throwing was with another ball.”
“So it has, like, I think maybe black stripes or white stripes the one I caught had like black stripes or something. So a few people like ‘oh this has been edited’ or he didn’t really catch it or something but it was basically they must have taken he’s like second throw but then my first catch,” concluded the Australian who needs just one requirement to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Fans react and criticize Daniel Ricciardo and Tom Brady for the football move
As soon as ESPN’s video landed on the internet, fans got divided into two. A part of the fans praised the duo for entertaining the crowd in such a way. While others raised concerns about the video being edited because they felt the balls used were different.
Given below are some of the reactions to Daniel Ricciardo’s catching skills taken from Twitter:
Reminder: Daniel Ricciardo is the first? only? F1 Driver to catch a pass from Tom Brady https://t.co/rxKteZY8xB
— ChatDGD (@chickenwalfredo) February 1, 2023
I will always be super impressed with that catch by Danny Ric https://t.co/IciOLv853o
— Mr. Morale (@GuangcoJp) February 1, 2023
Love it, this is a party i would’ve loved to have been a part of https://t.co/fTiMZQYdR6
— Kyle Daley (@Kyle_Daley) February 3, 2023
Underrated reception by Danny Ric.
— Dom Rapp (@SirDomRapp) February 1, 2023
Great catch.
I’d assume most of the drivers in the paddock don’t make that grab. Good job DRic.
— DriversScarf (@DriversScarf) February 2, 2023
Let’s get Danny Ric on Hands Team
— A.Tru (@A__Trill) February 1, 2023
As not everyone was impressed by the skills, they questioned the Red Bull star’s ability. Some fans asked if the footage was edited since it had different balls in the footage.
Why does the football Daniel R is holding look different than the football that Tom Brady throws? 🤔
— finsterdexter (@finsterdexter) February 1, 2023
So good that the ball changed colour
— Beardti Voltas (@whoisthefer) February 1, 2023
haha! look at toms ball w white stripe…..check daniels ball haha!!
— Michael Landers (@ghboysdad) February 7, 2023
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With a deflated BALL
— Felipe Gómez (@Forester79117) February 1, 2023
The video shared by ESPN has received almost 400K views. It also reached close to 25,000 likes and 1.8K retweets. All in all, fake or not, the video and Daniel Ricciardo and Tom Brady indeed managed to startle the fans with their moves.
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WATCH THIS STORY: Struggling ‘Honey Badger’ Daniel Ricciardo Once Dominated the Streets of Azerbaijan in Glorious 2017
Did you like Daniel Ricciardo’s skills of catching the football? Or do you think it was all fake? Let us know.