Reliant Stadium Security Guards Got Fired for Taking a Photo with Tom Brady

“Tom Brady” image by Keith Allison on Flickr

How annoyed was the last-place Houston Texans organization after their second-half collapse against the Patriots on Sunday? A Reliant Stadium security guard who was fired for taking a photo with Tom Brady thinks they were pretty darn irritated.

KTRK in Houston reports that Joel Williams worked as a security guard for Contemporary Services Corporation for a year and a half. After his ushering duties were complete, he spied Tom Brady in the hall, and told him, “Tom Brady, good game, it was excellent. You’re my favorite quarterback and all that good stuff.” He and a co-worker then asked for pictures, and quickly thereafter, they got a call from their boss. “She says you are terminated, you guys are gone,” Williams said.

Williams thinks it was pettiness after a tough loss and fraternizing with the enemy that got him canned, but CSC stood by the decision, citing a rule that prohibits employees from taking photos with the players. That seems like a reasonable restriction that keeps the players from having to hang out with fans, sign autographs, and take photos while they’re at work. So probably this isn’t a case of sore loserism, although Williams claims that the policy isn’t usually enforced. But boy, if there’s one emerging takeaway of late, it’s that professional security guards really shouldn’t get themselves mixed up with this Tom Brady character.