Mark Wahlberg was in attendance for Super Bowl LI, but he never got to see the Patriots erase a 28-3 deficit and pull off one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history. That's because he and his family left the game early.
After the Pats stormed back and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, the actor posted a photo on Instagram explaining that he left early because his youngest son "wasn't feeling well."
The book of good parenting says that's a fair reason to dip early, but some were skeptical that Wahlberg, who's from Boston, used the excuse as a cop-out to avoid conceding that he gave up on his team when odds were stacked against them.
Those truthers may have more fuel to add to their fire of skepticism now that Wahlberg has changed his story.
In a recent interview with Men's Health magazine, Wahlberg says that his family left the game not because his youngest, Brendan, was sick, but because he was acting up because the game wasn't going New England's way.
"He was spitting out F-bombs and going crazy. It was bad," says Wahlberg, shuddering as if he's reliving the moment. "He was lying down on the carpet. He was very upset." Rhea wanted to stay, but Wahlberg wasn't having it and left with his boy.
I ask Wahlberg if his son learned a valuable lesson about not giving up on your team, and he laughs. "Heck no. He's a vicious sore loser. He wants the ball. He hates when his brother gets it. When he doesn't get the ball, he goes crazy. He throws rocks."
So, now that the narrative has shifted, are you buying it? Personally, I have more questions with this version of the story than the previous iteration.
It's interesting that Wahlberg says his wife, Rhea, wanted to stay at the game, but he elected to leave anyway. Most parents know the struggle of dealing with a insubordinate child, but how bad could it have been? Bad enough to leave the dang Super Bowl when you know Tom Brady's comeback capabilities? Wahlberg's own wife didn't think so.
Did he pull the kid aside and present the threat of an early exit? As a former child sports nut, that would have changed my tune real quickly.
It's possible Marky Mark may have had a quick trigger because he was sharing a luxury suite at NRG Stadium with Patriots' owner Robert Kraft, but if anyone could understand the frustrations that come with getting shelled in the Super Bowl...you'd think it'd be the owner of the team getting waxed.
But if Wahlberg is telling the truth and he really had to get his son out of there, then why didn't he just leave with the youngest while allowing his wife and the older sibling to stay? Making the entire family pay for the sins of one hardly seems fair during the biggest game of the year.
Then again, it's not my family so I don't really have much say in the matter. All I know is that the Wahlberg family missed one hell of a finish and that's something they'll have to live with forever, even if they have an excuse. Or two.
