A viral video shows a Miami based sports reporter stiff-arming an obnoxious fan during her live shot following Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.
CBS Miami sports anchor Samantha Rivera shared a clip of herself fending off the Golden Knights fan during her live cut-in from T-Mobile Arena after Vegas defeated Florida to take a 2-0 series lead.
"Listen, I don’t give a damn what team you’re rooting for - get the hell out of my face when I’m working and respect that I’m here to do my job," Rivera wrote. "Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!!"
Numerous Twitter users credited Rivera for not only showing poise in a stressful situation, but also landing a stiff-arm that would make Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry proud.
"The Derrick Henry of reporters," Yahoo Sports tweeted. "CBS Miami's Samantha Rivera wasn't gonna let a rowdy Golden Knights fan ruin her shot.
After going viral, Rivera addressed the situation in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina.
"I could see the guy and another guy out of the corner of my eye," Rivera said. "It looked like they were staring at us right before we were about to go live, and I think at one point I saw them pointing at us, too. But we were already on camera, and I was afraid they were gonna take me too early, so I wanted to tell my photographer something, but I couldn’t, so I just kept my eye on him."
Rivera, who had previously worked for NBC 5 Chicago, the San Diego Wave and FOX 5 San Diego as a bilingual reporter, said she had previously faced a similar situation.
"A similar incident happened when I worked in San Diego," Rivera told Sports Illustrated. "I don’t think they purposely ... maybe they did, but it was a man walking his dog, and instead of going around me or behind me, he came right in front of me, in front of my camera, and I almost tripped. So that was the one and only time that was similar and kind of prepared me for last night. But nothing as crazy as last night."
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