“People are mad at the lightning video? Y’all should be mad for not knowing where he was Jan 6th” – NFL fans turn on Drew Brees for publicity stunt

A video of what appears to be Super Bowl winning quarterback Drew Brees being struck by lightning went viral Friday morning. The video shows a film crew preparing Brees for a promotional shoot for Points Bet, a sports gambling site, while thunder and lightning crash down behind him.

As it appears that the crew is ready to film the former NFL quarterback, lightning takes over the entire shot, enveloping Brees and the clip suddenly ends.

The video ends with no confirmation of whether he was struck by lightning or not. As the video went viral on Friday morning, many started to question the validity of the video. Was it just a publicity ploy or had he been struck by lightning?

Those on Twitter also questioned who would decide that this was the best promotional idea for the company. Others said that it was clear that it was a stunt because it's likely that the crew would not have been filming in that type of inclement weather. Clearly PointsBet received the type of publicity that they had intended because it is now all anyone is discussing on social media:

ESPN reporter confirms Drew Brees wasn't struck by lightning

As the morning went on, NFL fans were looking to confirm whether former NFL quarterback Drew Brees was struck by lightning. He himself didn't say anything until Katherine Terrell, the New Orleans Saints reporter for ESPN, tweeted that she had texted him herself after seeing the video.

She said that he confirmed that he was fine and didn't get struck by lightning. While this is welcome news, it still questions the thought process behind the marketing campaign with PointsBet.

"I just texted Drew Brees. He said he's good and that he did not get struck by lightning."

The promotional shoot was filmed on the Catatumbo River in Venezuela. An area known for its thunder and lightning that can occur for up to nine hours at a time. This is likely the reason why the location was chosen for this promotional ad.

After Terrell posted this to Twitter, PointsBet posted their own video to Twitter of Brees sitting on what appears to be a stretcher. He then said that he was "buzzing" from the strike and then went on to say that the site was giving away free 'lightning' passes all weekend long.

The Tweet then confirmed that it was in fact a promotional campaign for the sports gambling website and that everyone's nervousness was for nothing.