Sleeping Yankees fan: ‘I have a reputation’
Jul 25, 2014, 5:25 PM
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The 15 minutes of fame is not quite up for the Sleeping Yankees Fan.
Andrew Rector appeared on the Today Show Friday morning to defend his reason for filing a $10 million defamation lawsuit against ESPN, the Yankees and Major League Baseball, the New York Post reported.
On Apr. 13, Rector attended a Yankess-Red Sox game in New York, only to be shown on ESPN’s cameras, asleep, during the fourth inning. For almost two minutes the ESPN announcers tease him for napping.
Rector said he had no idea what was going on when the stadium erupted in applause after he woke up.
“Put yourself in my shoes,” Andrew Rector told Matt Lauer. “How would you feel if you were broadcast on TV and all over the media?” … “It happens to the best of us,” he told Lauer. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Rector admitted his decision to sue was “spur-of-the-moment,” but he believes ESPN, the Yankees, and the MLB “clearly crossed the line.”
“They put me on YouTube and created a public forum where people could comment,” he said. “I’m a fan,” he said. “I paid to go to that game. I brought friends that were there. I have a reputation, as well.”
When asked if a simple apology would be sufficient, Rector answered, “Possibly.”
The viral footage of Rector asleep is below.