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Ben Affleck Reveals He Had An ‘Existential Crisis’ When His Son Samuel Said He Isn’t a Boston Sports Fan — Watch!
Once he learned his youngest child wasn’t into Boston sports, Ben Affleck was pretty shell-shocked and later went to great lengths to ensure his son, Samuel, would become a fan of all the sports teams his famous father loves, too.
The 46-year-old appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, February 14 and shared a story that involved his 6-year-old little boy letting him know what he truly thinks about his dad’s love of Boston sports. The Justice League star kicked it off by saying that Samuel wasn’t very pumped that the New England Patriots recently became Super Bowl champions yet again, nor about the Boston Red Sox’s latest success. Ben then revealed how he felt a gut punch from his son while on the way to a Sox World Series game this past October.
“On the way to the game, I was kind of giving my kids a pep talk — my kids are 13, 10 and 6, about to be 7 — and I was telling my 6-year-old, my son in particular, you know, ‘We’re really excited because we’re from Boston and this is a big deal and the Red Sox’ and I’m giving him the whole history,” the two-time Oscar winner explained to host Jimmy Kimmel.
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Ben continued, “And he listens to me and then he stops and goes, ‘Dad, you’re from Boston. I’m from L.A.,’ and I had a full existential crisis. ‘I failed, I’m a bad father, this is a disaster, I don’t know what to do!’” He added, “There’s a certain sort of tragic pain that you carry with you as a person from Boston that you except to imbue to your children that they’re gonna carry on, like we suffer through the cold and the misery and lose big sporting events.”
Ben then revealed that he went a tad overboard at home in hopes of “turning” his son into a Patriots fan. “I tell you what, I was going to put an end to that,” Ben laughed. “Because once my son starts telling me, ‘I’m from L.A.,’ I know some guys — a lot of guys from Boston in L.A. who do work in the trades, that kind of thing, trying to make it out here. So I got the New England discount — got some friends that were painters, carpenters, that kind of thing to do a little work in my son’s room and help him understand where he comes from. If not literally, then spiritually.”
“My ex-wife [Jennifer Garner] thinks it’s creepy,” Ben joked while showing Jimmy photos of Samuel’s bedroom completely decked out in Boston sports memorabilia, including a chair shaped like Patriots quarterback Tom Brady head’s. “I think it’s appropriate for grown men to make totems and idols out of other grown men.”
The Good Will Hunting star added, “We take our neuroses and we put it [on our children] … If this [clip] is still on YouTube by the time my son’s in therapy, he can just show them the show — ‘Do I have to say anymore? This is my dad.’“
But some good may have come from this, as the Patriots quarterback got word of the child’s bedroom and ended up responding. “He was very nice,” Ben revealed of Tom’s reaction to Samuel’s decor. “He sent my son a football and a jersey, signed.” Aside from his youngest son, Ben also shares daughter Violet and Seraphina with Jennifer, 46.