Fantasy football players are under fire for the perception that we don’t care about the athletes as human beings. Earlier this year Arian Foster called us “sick” for only being concerned about how his injury affects our fake teams. That little incident was nothing compared to the outrage that arose from an ad that showed Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles being carted off the field after his season ending knee injury.
“Injury ruined your fantasy season?” it asks. “Start again on NFL.com. It’s not too late.”
Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was among those expressing his outrage on Twitter:
“Great job NFL. com, using a player’s season-ending injury to promote fantasy football. Now that is a douchebag move.” He added the hashtag “unfuckingbelievable.” I wonder if the NFL will fine him for those comments?
The league quickly took the ad down, and blamed the mistake on its fantasy football marketing team. It probably is a case of someone in marketing not getting the ad approved by the proper people. It still makes the league look hypocritical, as it is currently changing a bunch of rules due to concerns about player safety.
