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Sportsballers are hereby advised to stay away from Aubrey D. Graham
UPDATE: A version of this story appeared Dec. 13, 2022, on the news page of Questionist’s parent site, Geeks Who Drink. But noted Boomer mag Rolling Stone just published its long-awaited-by-no-one ranking of every Drake album, so here we are. We don’t make the rules!
It hasn’t been that long since “The Drake Curse” was a thing. A few years ago, athletes such as tennis champ Serena Williams and professional face-puncher Conor McGregor took rare L’s whenever hip-hop phenom Drake rolled up to support them. Not only that, but ENTIRE TEAMS lost when the rapper took selfies wearing their gear.
Check it: In January 2019, Drake posted a photo of himself in a University of Alabama hoodie, and the next day they lost college football’s National Championship to Clemson. In April of that year, Drake took a pic with Paris Saint-Germain defender Layvin Kurzawa, and a couple days later, the club suffered its biggest defeat in almost two decades. That same month, Drake wore a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey to one of their playoff games, and his hometown club was throttled by the Boston Bruins, who went on to win the series.
The Leafs have either forgiven Drake or they’ve forgotten about the Curse, because just last month, they collaborated with his fashion label, October’s Very Own (OVO) on a line of jerseys and other team merch.
“[OVO] has partnered with the National Hockey League on an ongoing brand partnership celebrating the Icons of Hockey,” the brand wrote in an Instagram post. “As one of the longest standing hockey franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been an integral part of Canada’s sports heritage since 1917.”
That first OVO release featured retired Leafs players Doug Gilmour and Curtis Joseph in the new drip, which included OVO and Toronto-branded sweaters, scarfs, varsity jackets, and other gear.
The Leafs are currently in second place in their division, so this whole OVO thing doesn’t seem to have hit them too hard — at least not yet. The Alabama Crimson Tide did win the NCAA championship the following season, and Paris Saint-Germain have won Ligue 1 two out of the last three years.
On the other hand, 59-year-old Doug Gilmour hasn’t played ONE SINGLE MINUTE of hockey since he showed up in OVO’s Insta. Really makes you think.
Featured image photo credit: The Come Up Show, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0