Belichick signed photo of infamous meme, met with young fans he snubbed in Detroit
By Mike Sullivan
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PLAINVILLE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Bill Belichick may be gone as head coach of the New England Patriots, but his viral moments will live on forever. This includes the infamous meme against the Detroit Lions where he snubbed two young fans looking for a high five. It turns out, the two children in the viral hit are actually die-hard Patriots fans.
“I have been a season ticket holder since about 2011. I was on the waitlist for 10 years,” said Andy Ferreira, the father of one of the boys. “A group of three dads and five boys went out there. One of our friends worked for the Lions. We did a guys trip out there. We were out to support our friend, and part of the deal was we would wear some Lions gear.”
The gift also came with field access. As Belichick exited the tunnel, Matt Noonan and Zach Ferreira reached out for a high-five. TV cameras were live as Bill gave them the cold shoulder.
“A lot of the players were walking by not paying attention to us, so we weren’t mad about it at first,” says Zach.
“With no other action on TV, it captured that moment. After that we didn’t think anything of it,” remembers Andy. “A tweet went out, I think Barstool Sports, and by the time we got up to our seats the phones were blowing up.”
The moment has been turned into a meme countless times. This is especially true whenever rumors pop up of a player potentially coming to the Patriots.
“First it came out, and I thought, ‘Oh you get your 15 minutes of fame,’ and it’s going to be over, but it isn’t,” laughs Noonan. “It tends to come up a lot, especially during draft season.”
The Patriots caught wind of the incident and invited the boys and their parents to a game against the Bills. The kids met Belichick, and he even signed photos of the now infamous moment.
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