Fantasy Football should be something fun to do with your buddies, but one man took things way too far.
A 25-year-old man messed around and found out after he pleaded guilty to two criminal charges after falsely claiming a member of his fantasy football league was planning to ‘blow up’ a school and commit a mass shooting.
Matthew Gabriel of Philadelphia made those threats after an argument with a member of his fantasy football group.
According to the guilty plea agreement, Gabriel had an online disagreement escalate with a member of his group.
Once he learned that same member was set to study abroad in Norway in August 2023, Gabriel decided to get some revenge by submitting an anonymous tip online to the Norwegian Police Security Service.
He claimed that a member of his fantasy football chat group was going to carry out a mass shooting in the area.
That tip set off a wave of events that led law enforcement in both Norway and the United States to investigate the matter.
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Matthew Gabriel later admitted to the FBI that he had falsely submitted the tip, but this did not stop his actions from occurring again.
On March 22, 2024, Gabriel submitted a false tip again, claiming a member from his fantasy football group chat had told him that he planned on blowing up the school.
“While already being prosecuted for one hoax threat spurred by, of all things, his fantasy football league, Matthew Gabriel inexplicably decided to send another,” said Romero.
“His actions were extremely disruptive and consumed significant law enforcement resources on two continents, diverting them from actual incidents and investigations. Hoax threats aren’t a joke or protected speech, they’re a crime. My advice to keyboard warriors who’d like to avoid federal charges: always think of the potential consequences before you hit ‘post’ or ‘send.'”
Gabriel struck a deal with prosecutors that likely will spare him time behind bars.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported prosecutors agreed to recommend a 15-month house arrest sentence and three years of probation.
Fantasy Football Punishments Have Become Quite Unique Over The Years
Fantasy football is a game in which the participants serve as owners and general managers of virtual gridiron football teams, and it seems to get better and better every year.
One of the best parts of it has to be the punishments.
Whether you want a fun, light-hearted punishment or going for extreme humiliation, we are starting to see it all.
Long gone are fantasy football punishments that have people standing on the street with a sign that says, “I suck at fantasy football.”
One of the better ones was the winner’s opportunity to have a caddie for a round of golf, which is something most casual golfers don’t get to experience very often.
Another unique one happened this month: a fantasy football loser had to show up at a bar at 6 a.m. and stay until it closed.
The only way to make the stay shorter was to have an alcoholic drink, which would’ve knocked 30 minutes off the end time.
