NFL & Atlanta Falcons

Zoo Atlanta pays off bet ... exterminator not included

In this Feb. 6, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady walks off with his MVP trophy during a news conference after the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game in Houston. Zoo Atlanta announced Monday that it named a baby cockroach after Brady.
In this Feb. 6, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady walks off with his MVP trophy during a news conference after the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game in Houston. Zoo Atlanta announced Monday that it named a baby cockroach after Brady. AP

The comeback the New England Patriots put on the Atlanta Falcons — or the Falcons’ crash against the Patriots, depending on point of view — just won’t go away.

Sure, Falcons fans were dejected following their team’s Feb. 5 overtime loss in which the Patriots put together the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. But, thanks to Zoo Atlanta, Falcons fans might just have a small measure of payback.

According to a CNN report, Zoo Atlanta paid off a bet with Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island by naming one of its baby animals after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

The animal? A male Madagascar hissing cockroach.

CNN reported that the male Madagascar hissing cockroach “is known for being aggressive” and that the cockroach will join a family that carries names from the late 1960s and early 1970s television show “The Brady Bunch.”

The zoos clarified the bet involved naming a cockroach after the winning quarterback. So if there’s a silver lining to defeat for Falcons fans, it’s knowing that there isn’t a cockroach out there named after Matt Ryan.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Zoo Atlanta pays off bet ... exterminator not included."

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