Reputational damage
It used to be that if you saw a group of folks wearing Mizzou gear with a player’s name printed on the back that they were either family or friends of the player. That’s no longer the case.
We showed up to tailgate in the main tailgating lot later in the afternoon, so got stuck in the back corner. We were positioned two spots down from a larger tailgate that had a handful of families wearing Brady Cook emblazoned black and gold IMO’s gear.
As everyone started to clean up their tailgates a group of kids came over from the projects across the street and asked the group if they could have some of the leftover food, of which there was plenty. A couple of the dads not so kindly shooed the kids away like they were stray dogs.
Fortunately a couple of women in the next tailgate proactively offered the kids some of their leftovers, the kids each made a plate, and went on their way.
Not knowing at all whether these people are actually associated with Brady, I’m fairly sure that’s not behavior and values he’s want to be associated with. But because of the fact that widely available player branded gear is so new, the average person’s gut reaction is that they are.
As a PSA, this should be the case in general any time you’re wearing Mizzou gear, but especially if you’re wearing a kid’s name, try to be the best version of yourself. For the time being to the average person it somewhat reflects on the player and who they associate with, whether they like it or not.
It used to be that if you saw a group of folks wearing Mizzou gear with a player’s name printed on the back that they were either family or friends of the player. That’s no longer the case.
We showed up to tailgate in the main tailgating lot later in the afternoon, so got stuck in the back corner. We were positioned two spots down from a larger tailgate that had a handful of families wearing Brady Cook emblazoned black and gold IMO’s gear.
As everyone started to clean up their tailgates a group of kids came over from the projects across the street and asked the group if they could have some of the leftover food, of which there was plenty. A couple of the dads not so kindly shooed the kids away like they were stray dogs.
Fortunately a couple of women in the next tailgate proactively offered the kids some of their leftovers, the kids each made a plate, and went on their way.
Not knowing at all whether these people are actually associated with Brady, I’m fairly sure that’s not behavior and values he’s want to be associated with. But because of the fact that widely available player branded gear is so new, the average person’s gut reaction is that they are.
As a PSA, this should be the case in general any time you’re wearing Mizzou gear, but especially if you’re wearing a kid’s name, try to be the best version of yourself. For the time being to the average person it somewhat reflects on the player and who they associate with, whether they like it or not.
