By Betsy Rothstein

Posted: 05/27/08 05:14 PM [ET]

It seems lobbyist Jason Roe was unofficially trying out for MTV’s “Jackass” over the Memorial Day weekend. For the uninitiated, that’s a show in which regular people take part in dangerously dumb stunts.

Roe, of the Federal Strategy Group, tried to wrestle a shark while on a fishing trip in Palm Beach, Fla., with lobbyists Dan Berger, senior vice president of government relations for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, and Steve Patterson, of JP Morgan.

The three lobbyists were on a charter boat catching tons of kingfish, cobia, jacks and sharks. Patterson caught an 8-foot, 250-pound shark and fought the beast for 45 minutes before getting it onto the boat.

Roe wasn’t so fortunate. He caught a 6-foot, 200-pound shark that broke free after a fight by snapping Roe’s fishing rod.

Instead of letting the animal swim away, Roe dived into the water with his hat, sunglasses, flip-flops — and a knife. While Roe said he has swum with sharks before, he has never fought one. He swam after the shark, but this fish got away. Roe returned to the boat with his hat, sunglasses and flip-flops intact and the knife in his mouth.

In the moment, his friends were afraid for him, thinking the shark might eat Roe.

“Jason jumped out of the boat and on top of the huge shark as it dove down,” recounted Berger. “His brave-jackass move was a mixture of WWF wrestling and Rambo with a dash of Forrest Gump.”

Even the boat’s captain, Westin Russell, remarked, “In all my years of fishing, I have never seen anything that crazy before in my life. Crazy little b-----d.”

Roe’s wife, Patty Roe, chief of staff to Rep. Thelma Drake (R-Va.), wasn’t too pleased. “She’s not particularly impressed,” Roe admitted. “She didn’t find it as amusing as everyone else.”

Roe, who laughs as he recounts the story, said the extent of his fishing abilities is Rep. Tom Feeney’s (R-Fla.) deep-sea fishing tournament. “I’m not really a fisherman,” said Roe, Feeney’s former chief of staff. “I don’t know what I was thinking. ‘Think’ might be overstating the process at that time.”

And if there’s a next time? “Next time I will catch the shark,” said Roe, shrugging the incident off. “After years of living in Washington, D.C., being in the water with sharks is an everyday occurrence.”

Submitted on 05/28/2008

Submitted by: Doug
Reference: The Hill Newspaper, 5-27-08

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
You know, I have to love this story. So many references to the stupid in this world. And this guy tried to live up to all of them at once. Thanks for the submission, Doug

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Average male might = this shark in weight and height, but you do NOT pursue a predator into its territory armed only with a knife! Esp. if you are an amateur anyway! And for some reason this reminds me of the joke of why sharks won't eat politicians and lawyers. Thanks, Doug!

$16 Tree of Life T-Shirt / Grey
Heavy 100% cotton Hanes Beefy-T with an inadvisable tree-sawing situation on the front... and a few scattered leaves on the back! Click on the image for a full view. This one is not based on any story, but shows an amusingly apt situation.
Buy the Tree of Life T-Shirt