The father of a 4-year-old whose accurate NFLpredictions made her a viral sensation says his family is now receiving death threats after her picks during the playoffs were losers.
Reese Donatelli gained a large social media following for her spirited and sassy football predictions posted to her dad’s account, often grabbing the mini helmet of the NFL team she believed would win and sometimes tossing aside the loser’s.
Still, during the first weekend of this month’s playoff games, several of her predictions missed the mark, prompting some followers to claim her picks were “cursed.”
Her father, radio personality Anthony Donatelli of Riverside, California, told the Los Angeles Times that the family has received threatening messages, including demands for money from people who claimed to have lost thousands of dollars because Reese’s picks were incorrect.
“It’s nuts,” Donatelli. “She’s obviously not an NFL analyst. She’s picking teams based on the color of her dress, or she’ll pick the Packers because she likes cheese. She just relates these silly little things as reasons why she picks certain teams.”
The backlash even drew commentary from celebrity fans. Rapper Cardi B, whose boyfriend is New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, joked during an Instagram Live after Reese picked the Patriots to win, that the “little white girl said we’re going to win. F*** that, b***,*” then immediately apologized for her remark, saying, “I didn’t mean to say that.” Ultimately, Reese’s prediction proved correct, as New England defeated Houston 28–16 to advance to the AFC Championship.
The father and daughter’s Instagram series, dubbed “Trust the Toddler,” began nearly four years ago when Donatelli, a life-long Pittsburgh Steelers fan, bought the mini helmets to teach Reese colors, geography and football.
Donatelli knew they had something special when he first set out the helmets for Reese, and she grabbed one and threw it across the room.
“It just clicked. I would put the match-ups of who was going to play that week in front of her, and for the past four years, she’s been calling football games. And she’s been pretty dang good at it,” he told the LA Times.
But even the best have off days. Reese guessed the wrong team for all six games during the first week of the playoffs. The next week she went 1‑for‑9, incorrectly predicting wins for the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears.
Amid the controversy, Donatelli said he will keep up the father-daughter bonding activity, regardless of the outcome. He even kept things light-hearted on social media when Reese correctly predicted that the Patriots would beat the Texans, writing, “The curse has been reversed.”
Some Instagram users tried to lighten the mood, with one joking that they had bet “$10 million on Houston because of her,” adding that they are now “more in debt than the U.S. government,” according to the outlet.
Another user defended the child, writing, “If [you’re] letting a kid pick your parlays you shouldn’t be betting.”
Donatelli’s Instagram was set to private at the time of publication.