Merrianne Do, the Los Angeles Chargers fan who stole the show during “Monday Night Football,” is out to let the world know that she wasn’t a plant, and if anyone needs any proof of just how eccentric a fan she is, they can ask her family.
Do appeared on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday as the football universe wondered who the enthusiastic supporter was.
Do was caught by ESPN cameras and went viral for her hanging on every play and her reaction wild reaction to Gerald Everett’s fourth-quarter touchdown before Los Angeles fell 20-17.
“I wish I was getting paid. I wish I could make myself AI and as beautiful as I want, but at the end of the day this is me guys,” Do said responding to those who questioned whether she was a plant by the NFL or AI.
“This is me. Crazy mom of four. Crazy chargers fan. Crazy freaking football fan and it is what it is,” she added. “All the moms are texting me, they’re like: ‘Why are the people saying you’re fake? Because this is how you’re at flag football. This is how you are at soccer. This is the basketball finals. This is you.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I guess my poor kids have to deal with this every day,’ but now it’s crazy, it’s overwhelming that the whole world thinks this is so different.
“My kids have had to deal with this all their lives.”
Cynical social media users questioned whether the passionate football fan had been put inside SoFi Stadium by the NFL for the benefit of the cameras or if she had been digitally altered into the broadcast.
Do didn’t even realize what was going on until after the game when she finally looked at her Apple Watch.
She told McAfee that she usually gets on the jumbotron during the games but has never made it onto television.
“I’m just cheering and I hear it — like I wear a watch — and it’s buzzing, it’s buzzing,” Do said. “But whatever, I need to watch the freaking end of this game. And I’m buzzing, buzzing and somebody came up to me from the field and they were like, ‘Do you know you’re on TV?’”
Do wasn’t phased by it and responded to the person that she didn’t know she was blowing up on TV and the internet and was more concerned about the outcome of the game.
The Chargers fan said no one from the NFL had reached out to her since the viral moment.
But she also said she would have been supporting her team enthusiastically no matter what.
“I am a huge fan. I am not afraid to hold my fandom out there,” she said. “If somebody reaches out to me I’m all for it, but at the end of the day, this is no AI. I’m a real human and it’s OK if people think I’m an actress.”
Some on social media found photos that appeared to be Do amped up in Minnesota Vikings gear, but she addressed those concerns in an interview with TMZ.
“I grew up in Minnesota before moving to California almost 20 years ago,” Do said to the outlet. “I don’t think you have to be a single-team fan. I love my Chargers and I’m not gonna deny my Vikings.
“At the end of the day, yes, I’ve been a Vikings fan, I’ve been through that journey as a Vikings fan and still am, but I’m here in LA for the past 20 years.”