is a viral moment waiting to happen considering the plethora of superstars under one Manhattan roof, and perhaps the first one came on Thursdays opening day at the Javits Center in the Raising Canes activation.
It was a legendary combination of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and 500 gallons of Raising Canes famous sauce filled in a dunk tank. Brady, whose accuracy with a football is still unmatched, didnt miss his target.
Gronkowski went splashing into the sauce, as Brady and Raising Canes owner Todd Graves joined the masses in celebrating one of the coolest moments to kick off Fanatics Fest.
Before Bradys toss pulled the seat out from under his favorite tight end when they were both in the , Fox News Digital caught up with Graves to find out how a dunk tank filled with his brands famous sauce came to be.
“I never thought of a Canes Sauce dunk tank, but partnering with Fanatics and Fanatics Fest, which is great,” Graves explained. “Theyre amazing partners. One, Michael Rubin and I have been friends, and talk about business, help each other out in many different ways. A rising tide lifts all boats. Before we started partnering with Fanatics, I loved what he was doing, I loved the fanfare, I loved having sports and entertainment figure heads â everybody from Tom Brady to Kevin Hart , right? All that together, I was like, Man, lets partner. Lets do this deal.
“With Fanatics Fest, partnering with them wasnt just like, Here, come, do whatever you think of. No, it was, Lets put our minds together and do what we can. So, they came up with the idea. Actually [CEO of OBB Media] Michael Ratner was like, Lets do a Canes Sauce dunk tank. I was like, Yes! And he was like, Lets do Brady dunking Gronk. Oh my God, I couldnt think of two better people doing it.”
Graves believed the moment was going to be “legendary” and “going to be something in Canes lore” forever. And when the brand opened its first doors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Aug. 28, 1996, Graves wasnt thinking 30 years down the road two of the most recognizable athletes in the country would be making this happen.
“The crews are already so excited about it. The fans will love it. What better guy like Gronk, and to have Brady hit the target. Its ideal,” Graves added.
Brady and Gronkowski got the crowd going with a little chicken Hail Mary moment, with the quarterback tossing some Canes chicken fingers into a cup of sauce the tight end was holding. But then, the moment of truth.
In classic Gronkowski fashion, he was chirping Brady from his seat, but the FOX Sports NFL colleagues knew what the end result was going to be with that. Brady toyed with Gronkowski at first, hitting a Canes logo just above the target on purpose, and did so again with a different one.
Then, on his third throw, Brady struck true, and all of the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Gronkowski caused a Canes Sauce explosion when he fell in. There was a splash zone if you were close enough, and it was a moment fans, media and everyone else who witnessed it couldnt stop talking about.
As Gronkowski wiped the sauce from his eyes, and Brady calmed down from all the laughter he caused, Graves was right there to thank them both for the epic moment hell never forget.
“Through growth, I have 100,000 crew members now, and we have 1,000 locations and were about to turn 30. For me to walk in here and see our logos up here and see people that want to come and be a part of Canes, its a dream come true. To do a dunk tank, and Tom Brady and Gronk want to do that, I built a brand thats special to my crew and customers. So, an absolute dream. I always have to pinch myself and part of my job is doing things like this, which is great,” Graves said.
“We love what we do. I love my company, I love my crew and customers. This is just something I think we can do some fun for them, b
