A Bengals Fan is using her new found fame to raise money for charity.
Christa Barrett, a Versailles native who now lives in New Orleans was cheering on the Cincinnati Bengals during Sunday’s game against the Saints when Jermaine Gresham scored a touchdown for the Bengals. He ran over to the stands and tried to pass Barrett the ball. But a Saints fan snatched it from her. A video clip of the steal went viral. Since then Barrett has been offered free footballs and other merchandise. Instead of keeping it, she’s using it to help others.
"There's a company down here, a clothing store called 'flirty girls' who contacted me and said they wanted to give me a gift basket. This is a really really cool clothing store down here, everybody knows it, it's very popular in New Orleans, and I told the owner that I would rather her donate the monetary equivalent to the Devon Still and Leah Still Foundation, or toward the Cincinnati and Philadelphia Children's Hospitals," Barrett told WUKY.
Barrett isn’t upset with the fan and actually defended him. In the video it looks like he may have elbowed her in the face but she said that he never touched her…calling the moment just “two excited fans going for a football.”
At the game the Saints organization did send another football to her while she cheered on her team in the stands.