Despite the Bolts loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, one Los Angeles Chargers fan’s reaction to a game-tying touchdown caught the attention of ESPN’s cameras and now, the internet.
With heartfelt expressions of excitement then despair and then back to excitement and yet another dive into despair, super-fan Merrianne Do led Bolts fans watching the game on television on an emotional journey.
“It’s funny because I truly believe every fan feels this way. They just may not show it or wear it on their sleeve like I do,” Do, who had no idea she was on camera, told KTLA’s Shelby Nelson a day after the game.
A Chargers fan for 20 years, Do says she regularly makes the jumbotron, but it was Monday night when cameras broadcast all that raw emotion for the world to see, making the season-ticket holder a viral sensation.
With the game starting off on a high point as Justin Herbert threw a one-yard pass to Keenan Allen to land the Bolts’ first touchdown of the game, Do said she could not be bothered as her phone blew up.
“My phone keeps buzzing and I have no idea why because we’re in it to win it, right?” she said. “I’ll check it. I’ll glance at it if it’s my nanny, my babysitter, whoever is watching my kids, I’ll answer. If not, I don’t even look at the message.”
It wasn’t until later, after the disappointing loss, that she realized what was happening. Her face was all over social media with people flooding the comments section, some even speculating that the Chargers paid for high-stakes emotional expressions.
“I just think ‘Bolt up’ to anybody that thinks this is fake, to anybody who thinks this is AI,” she said. “I wish I was getting paid for this, let’s be real, but at the end of the day, I love the Chargers that much.”
It’s that love for the Chargers that spills into her home life, with her husband and four kids all Chargers fans as well. The mega-fan and her husband are always at SoFi Stadium for the games and, according to Do, she has a ritual.
“Often times I feel like I’m giving the players a massage, I’m giving them my energy, like, ‘Here you go, here you go!’”
Even the Los Angeles Chargers took notice, posting to X, formerly known as Twitter, a photo of Do at the game.
As for their next game against the Chiefs in Kansas City, Do believes where there’s a will, there’s a win.
“Super Bowl, baby! Let’s first beat Kansas City next week,” she said. “Then Super Bowl, we got this. Meet you in Vegas.”