PA/@Patriots/TwitterIn another lesson that bullying doesn’t pay, some poor schmucks discovered the kid they’d been bullying was rewarded with a trip to the Super Bowl.
Seventh grader Dejah Rondeau from Exeter, New Hampshire, plays quarterback, and was picked on because of her gender.
Enter the New England Patriots’ wide receiver Julian Edelman, who stepped up to show he had Rondeau’s back and that bullies never prosper.
7th grade quarterback Dejah Rondeau wears no. 11 in honor of @Edelman11.
When he heard she was getting bullied at school, he had a #SuperBowlSurprise for her. pic.twitter.com/NVyhkfv8Hr
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 29, 2019
After Rondeau was given a tour of the Pat’s trophy room at Gillette Stadium with owner Robert Kraft, Edelman – who happens to be Dejah’s favourite player – said, ‘I heard we’ve got a quarterback here to take [Tom] Brady’s spot.’
The wide receiver told the seventh grader how much respect he had for her in persisting her passion in football in spite of the bullies’ efforts to belittle her, Mashable reports.
Edelman said:
I heard about your story, about going out there and having a challenge, of dealing with adversity because people not accepting this, that.
My respect level for you is just through the roof because you just ignored all the noise and you played the game we all love and that’s football.
Edelman asked Rondeau if she had any plans for Super Bowl Sunday before handing her a pair of tickets to the game.
Dejah said of the experience:
That was crazy. I never thought that would ever happen. I’m just really excited to go.
Dejah will surely be wearing her no. 11 jersey – Edelman’s number – when she watches the Patriots take on the LA Rams in the sport’s biggest game at Super Bowl LIII at the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, tonight.
It should be a close game with the New England Patriots marginal favourites with the bookies at 5/7 to win over the Los Angeles Rams priced at 6/5.
Super Bowl LIII is available to watch on BBC One from 10.45pm and Sky Sports Main Event from 11pm. Kick off is at 11.30pm GMT.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.