Report: Fan Who Shined Laser on Tom Brady to Face Charges, Banned for Life

Former quarterback Tom Brady as seen in a file photo. Larry Busacca/Getty Images

A fan who shined a laser at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during the AFC Championship Game in Kansas City two weeks ago was identified.

According to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter, the unnamed fan was apprehended and banned from Arrowhead Stadium for life.

He will face charges from the Kansas City district attorney, ESPN reported on Feb. 3.

A Kansas City television station showed a laser appearing on Brady several times during the game.

Officials were able to use security camera footage to identify Brady’s laser assailant, the report said.

“There’s a lot of pride in Kansas City, and we and our fans thought, ‘You don’t do that here,’” a Chiefs official was quoted by ESPN as saying.

The Kansas City police department wanted to cite the fan for disorderly conduct, according to ESPN. But the Chiefs have been trying to implement “the harshest penalty possible,” ESPN reported.

“The Chiefs want this incident to deter fans from pointing a laser at players at future games, a violation that has more serious ramifications than many realize. Since last month’s conference title game, members of the military have reached out to Brady to inform him that the lasers shined near his face could cause irreversible eye damage, according to another source,” ESPN wrote.

Lasers are prohibited from NFL games. Security officials at the Super Bowl in Atlanta will be looking for them.

Two years ago, former Houston Texas quarterback Brock Osweiler was targeted several times by lasers in a Mexico City game.

Earlier Update

After the game, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is looking into the laser report, but he said it didn’t affect the game. A laser can damage a person’s eyes.

“We’ve had some issues of lasers around the airport, but not at the stadium,” Sgt. Jacob Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, told the newspaper. “We will investigate, though, if we receive a police report.”

The laser beam was spotted on Brady at least three times in all.

The laser wasn’t picked up by broadcaster CBS during its coverage of the game.

Brady, during his post-game press conference, didn’t mention the laser. It also did not appear to affect his play.

KMBC, a local Kansas City station, quoted laser researcher Charles Cobb as saying that based on the size of the dot, the person was sitting far back in the end zone or in a corner.

“That one looked pretty diffuse, which implies to me it’s probably a laser pointer,” Cobb told the station. “He would’ve been seeing spots out there instead of his receivers.”

Cobb added that the Federal Aviation Administration has been dealing with people shining lasers at pilots for years. “This is enough, if it hits the retina of the eye for just a short period of time, it could cause damage to the retina,” he told the outlet. “I don’t think lasers should be shined at anything except under surgical conditions or if you’re giving a talk.”