PHILADELPHIA — It didn’t take long for NESN commentator Jack Edwards’ comments regarding Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon during Tuesday night’s broadcast of the Bruins-Lightning game to reach the Lightning locker room.
“Steven Stamkos actually showed me the video. I was in the shower (after the game),” Maroon recalled. “When our teammates are saying it’s pretty bad, it must be pretty bad. Right?”
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Midway through the first period, the topic of conversation on the Bruins broadcast turned to Maroon, the 34-year-old veteran of 671 NHL games and three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning and St. Louis Blues. Edwards and broadcast partner Andy Brickley began to discuss Maroon’s size on the ice, and the talk quickly moved into mocking.
“Listed at 238 pounds, that was Day 1 of training camp, I’ve got a feeling he’s had a few more pizzas between then and now,” Edwards said with a laugh.
“That’s before pregame,” Brickley added.
“(Intermittent) fasting for Pat Maroon is like four hours without a meal,” Edwards continued between laughs. “Hey, three (Stanley) Cups in a row, who can argue with it?”
Maroon and his teammates took the comments as a clear insult regarding Maroon’s weight, and an example of body shaming. By mid-afternoon Wednesday, as a group and an organization — and with the help of Brian Breseman, Sr. Director of Communications for the Lightning — they had decided what they wanted to do in response: take the high road, via a tweet sent by Maroon announcing a $2,000 donation in Edwards’ name to Tampa Bay Thrives, a local nonprofit organization focused on strengthening behavioral health outcomes for depression, anxiety and substance use disorder.
By Thursday afternoon, Maroon revealed in the visitor’s locker room at the Wells Fargo Center, their efforts had already raised $50,000 for the nonprofit.
In support of those struggling with mental health, bullying and body image I am making a 2,000 donation in the name of @realjackedwards to @TampaBayThrives and I encourage @TBLightning and @NHL fans to join me. Donate here: https://t.co/ZEbWHw6Cqv
— Pat Maroon (@patmaroon) November 30, 2022
“It was a bunch of us, as a team of us, that decided that we’re going to act on taking the high road, and just taking the negative into a positive. Find a solution of what we can do, and raise money,” Maroon explained. “I think it’s best sometimes you take the high road.”
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That said, Maroon made it very clear Thursday that he felt the comments made on the broadcast were out of line.
“You just don’t talk bad about someone like that for a minute straight, for no reason,” Maroon said. “I get it — if we’re out on the ice and guys are chirping and guys are doing those things, that’s part of hockey. That’s part of it. But someone on national TV when (potentially) millions of listeners are watching or tuned in, and he just basically cut me down. Uncalled for, unnecessary. I don’t understand why he did that. But it is what it is. It’s over, it’s done. And we turned a negative into a positive.”
Maroon acknowledged that broadcasters and those in the media have a right to critique players.
“I mean, announcers, broadcasters, obviously, they can say this guy’s struggling, or he hasn’t scored, or he hasn’t been playing up to his potential,” he said. “I mean, I get that part of it. That’s normal. I mean, that’s criticism, media.”
But even if listening to those critiques can be difficult, that’s part of the game. In Maroon’s mind, though, the comments from Edwards and Brickley were a step over that line. Not only that, Maroon noted that the comments regarding his weight had the potential to hurt viewers who are struggling with body image issues of their own.
“There’s going to be people on social media, they’re gonna say all … obviously, talking stuff (about weight), like you hear it all the time,” he said. “But not when you’re just sitting there, and just people are tuned into a game, you’re just basically bad-mouthing someone about something unnecessary.
“And if someone is watching the game that’s struggling with that stuff, and they’re listening to that, I mean, I can only imagine how they feel,” he said. “You know what I mean? Listen, I’m a professional athlete. I can take some stuff. I’m a strong guy, I’m a funny guy, easy guy to talk to, you can joke with me all you want. But when things are unnecessary, that was very unnecessary.”
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Still, Maroon made it clear that he is ready to put the situation behind him, and is looking at the positives that came about due to their chosen response.
“We raised $50,000 so far,” he said. “So it’s on the move-up, and hopefully we’re helping people that are struggling with their weight, or with anything in the world. Because at the end of the day, people do struggle, and people do try to lose weight. And sometimes it’s harder than others. So, hopefully we impacted a couple people, and we’re raising a lot of money right now for a great foundation.”
Update at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 2: Edwards issued the following statement to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa:
“I am sensitive to the subject of body image and I didn’t intend to offend anyone. In the course of a two-and-a-half hour broadcast, it was a light-hearted attempt to point out that Pat Maroon, who I also regularly praise for his camaraderie with teammates through the years, uses his size to be a difficult competitor. He’s an effective player with three Stanley Cup rings — something I also made it a point to say Tuesday night. I have reached out to the Lightning to connect with Pat.”
(Photo: Danny Wild / USA Today)
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