Whoops: It Would Appear the Source of the Story About Drake Maye Giving All His Wedding Gifts to Charity Was an AI TikTok Scott Zolak Saw
Every once in a while a story comes along that seems too good to be true. And as I've mentioned before, whenever there's any doubt any story, I make the decision to believe what I want to be true. Regardless of how plausible it is. Gal Gadot and my own breathtaking Irish Rose may or may not have decided I'm too much for any one woman and they've agreed to share. But I know which possibility I'm going with. Occam's Razor be damned.
So when it was reported that Drake Maye and his lovely new bride gave all their wedding gifts to the needy, I didn't hesitate to jump all over it:
And I was by no means alone on that:
SI - 98.5 The Sports Hub's Scott Zolak shared that the newlyweds have since made an incredible gesture: donating all of their wedding gifts to those in need. "So the wedding gifts," Zolak began on his eponymous radio show, Zolak and Bertrand on Tuesday.
"He didn't tell anybody, and he had this supposed deal with his current wife that—they did a lot of donating with the local kids shelters and stuff for the area he grew up and some kids didn't have [the right] size shoes, didn't have some Christmas stuff—they didn't tell anybody, but they took their wedding gifts and sent them to the homeless and help centers down there."
Here's the original video:
All of which was rather a pleasant surprise. First, that the couple would make such a grand gesture. But also that such a positive story would go as viral as it did. In the media biz, they say "If it bleeds, it leads." Or as the other saying goes, "Bad news has been around the world while good news is still putting its pants on." But here we had an act of kindness and charity getting picked up by every sports outlet and a lot of celebrity sites. Including the one you're currently reading, which has a lot of both.
Yet it seems that first lazy, ham fisted cliche I used about stories being too good to be true is the one that applies here. Because Scott Zolak's co-host Marc Bertrand stuck a needle in that balloon:
By way of full disclosure, I'm very friendly with both Zo and Bertrand and neither have ever been anything less than friendly to me. Even if that were not the case, I doubt I'd jump all over Zolak for stepping on this rake. Was it a mistake to believe something you see on a TikTok without verifying it? Of course. Does it make it awkward for Maye to report to camp and have to answer questions about how the newlyweds did, in fact, keep the wedding presents their friends and families bought for them? Maybe a little. They shouldn't be in a position to "admit" they did what every bride and groom have done since the invention of the wedding. Besides, like I said last week, I'd be a little miffed if someone gave away the gift I shelled out for:
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[T]he thrifty, frugal Irishman in me wonders I've I'd be a little perturbed that she shelled out for the 800-thread count Egyptian cotton bed linens only to have them be given away to the needy, since I could've gotten away with the cheapest set sold by the Ocean State Job Lot. But I'll suppress that cheap bastard instinct.
But it's an honest mistake. In fact, it's admirable in a way to think it's true. A compliment to Maye. It says, "He seems like the sort of kind-hearted, charitable Son of Adam that would put the needs of others before his own." Which is the opposite of all the stories that other Boston media members have repeated without verifying just because they made someone they cover look bad. Spygate. Deflategate. Ron Borges got fired after being catfished by a random Patriots fan posing as Don Yee to dish dirt on Belichick. If nothing else, Zo' intentions were at least noble.
Still, there's no excuse. Everyone who covers sports has at one time another been taken in byw a fake Adam Schefter account or whatever. And AI is here to make discerning fact from fiction, real news from fake news, truth from lies, harder than it's been in human history. So this is a teachable moment. At least this time we all got off easy.
So congratulations are in order to the wedding guests. At least your stuff went to the people you bought it for. And we're all a little bit wiser after this experience.
And that's STILL My Quarterback: