Ex-Purdue star QB Drew Brees lightning strike was publicity stunt by gambling company

Nat Newell, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read
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Apparently nothing gets people to want to gamble on sports like faking potential serious injury to one of the greatest quarterbacks in Purdue history.

Early Friday morning, a tweet by Rafael Hernandez said former Purdue and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was struck by lightning while filming a promotional video for Points Bet in Venezuela. Hernandez, who is listed as a filmmaker on his Twitter bio, included video and said, "More info in a few minutes," but didn't tweet again.

Points Bet tweeted: "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."

Points Bet confirmed at 11:10 a.m. it was a gag. Brees had already confirmed to multiple media outlets that he was fine. ESPN Saints reporter Kat Terrell tweeted: "I just texted Drew Brees. He said he's good and that he did not get struck by lightning."

Nick Underhill, who covers the Saints for neworleans.football, tweeted: "He's fine," in reference to Brees.

Brees tweeted earlier this week that he was flying to a top-secret location to shoot a promotional video, which he confirmed was Catatumbo, Venezuela, in the latest video.

Catatumbo has a river that is known for an atmospheric phenomenon that produces storm clouds 150 nights a year for up to nine hours per day with lightning flashing 28 times per minute according to tripsavvy.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Drew Brees lightning strike was a publicity stunt