FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots already received a shout-out from Hulk Hogan. Next, they will have a championship belt at Gillette Stadium.
Tight end Matthew Mulligan is bringing the belt, ordered from Hogan’s shop in Florida, to the Patriots’ locker room.
“[My wife] actually wanted to give me one of his belts for Christmas, because obviously I’m a Hulk Hogan fan,” Mulligan said Thursday. “I mean anyone that grew up in my era, if he wasn’t watching pro wrestling, then he wasn’t watching very much, I guess. So it was just my wife’s idea, and him doing that promo was all them. I definitely appreciate it because, like I said, I’m a big fan of Hulk Hogan.”
Hogan cut a promo for Mulligan and the Patriots, throwing his support behind the team in its pursuit of a fourth Super Bowl ring. Mulligan was thrilled by the shout-out from the former WWE wrestler.
“I think there’s only a few people in life that as a grown man, you’d be pretty giddy about,” Mulligan said about Hogan mentioning his name. “And I think Hulk Hogan would be one of them. When I was showing all my buddies from home, they were all freaking out. Hulk Hogan’s a household name, whether you watch professional wresting or not. It was really cool.”
The belt has not arrived yet, and Mulligan doesn’t know what the team will do with it once it’s in the locker room. But the rest of the Patriots are awaiting its arrival.
“I’m just going to have it here,” Mulligan said. “All the guys are pretty stoked about it, too. Like I said, a lot of us grew up being Hulkamaniacs, so it’s a nice thing to have Hulk Hogan reference the Patriots. It’s cool.”
Maybe if Mulligan catches a touchdown pass in the playoffs, he can put his hand to his ear and give the football a leg drop.
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