Bear Bachmeier was supposed to be the story for what he was doing on the field. Instead, RG3 turned him into the center of one of the most uncomfortable broadcast moments of the season. As FOX cameras showed Bear’s mother, April Bachmeier, in the stands during BYU’s Week 2 game against Arizona, Griffin suddenly brought up something the quarterback had apparently shared with the crew before the game. The moment came during BYU’s 28-17 win, when the Cougars were ranked No. 15.

What should have been a routine family cutaway quickly became the moment everyone was talking about. Once the clip resurfaced, fans had one question: why was something this personal being aired on national television?

“[Bear] told us that at dinners, you know, sometimes they just, they just take the clothes off and they walk around naked,” RG3 said before Connor Onion responded, “Do I have to answer that?”

The internet was never going to let this one go. Once the clip began circulating again online, reaction picked up quickly, with fans mostly asking why RG3 thought this was something viewers needed to hear.

The BYU angle only made it stranger. The school is known for a strict honor code and conservative culture, so hearing a story this bizarre during one of its broadcasts immediately stood out.

A similar controversy happened in 2006, when ABC announcer Brent Musburger revealed a private signal used by USC quarterback John David Booty during a game against Nebraska. Booty had shared the detail in a standard production meeting, where broadcasters are often given background information that is not necessarily meant for air. Musburger explained the signal on national television anyway, and USC later filed a formal complaint with ESPN, calling it a breach of trust. Even fellow commentator Bob Davie questioned why Musburger had told “all of America” what the signal meant.

The Bachmeier family, though, has never exactly been conventional. Bear has brothers named Hank and Tiger, while his younger brother has gone by Buck, Cougar or Puma. Bear himself once described their remote upbringing as “caveman,” saying the family lived in the middle of nowhere and regularly saw mountain lions, coyotes and other wildlife.

Still, nobody has independently confirmed RG3’s story. Bear has not publicly clarified the claim, leaving open the possibility that he was joking during the pregame conversation or that some context was lost between that conversation and the live broadcast. Reporting after the game noted that Bachmeier had not addressed the claim.

That uncertainty only made the reaction louder.

One fan, kolvooo, summed it up perfectly: “Hmmmm I don’t think I needed to know that 💀”.

Another user, kanchi sachdev, joked, “ESPN punching air right now that they didn’t get this story first”.

Others were less amused. Geggie wrote, “Shaking my head 😭some family traditions are better left unexplained. The FOX broadcast really had everybody sitting there wondering, ‘Wait… did I hear that correctly?'”

LKG had an even simpler response: “This is one dinner tradition I did NOT need to know about”.

Then came the pushback. A user named 7happy claimed the original story was only about Bear eating with his shirt off once and accused the broadcast of turning it into something much bigger. “Did they tell you they eat dinner naked together and if not, WHY ARE YOU SAYING THIS??” they wrote.

That version has not been independently confirmed either, but it raises the bigger question hanging over the entire clip: did RG3 reveal exactly what Bear told him, or did the story get exaggerated somewhere between the pregame conversation and live television?

At least none of this has slowed Bear down on the field. BYU is 3-0 and sitting at No. 9 nationally, while Bachmeier has thrown for 642 yards and six touchdowns with one interception, while adding two rushing touchdowns. That gives him eight total touchdowns through three games.
For now, though, one bizarre FOX clip has managed to pull plenty of attention away from what Bear is doing on the field. Until Bear explains what he actually said, RG3’s version is going to keep following him around.