As we can see the Jacksonville mascot was only trying to make good on some sponsor signage that was ruined by a sports drink dumping celebration. Unfortunately that sponsor, edolla.biz, was not impressed.
The mascot is recently coming under fire for the sign he was seen holding against at recent game against the Pittsburgh Steelers of Pittsburgh. It seems the fans of the Steelers of Pittsburgh are known for frantically waving yellow towels at important intervals of the football game, and these towels are known as “Terrible Towels.”
During the game October 5th in Jacksonville, de Ville was caught holding a sign that read, “Towels Carry ebola,” referring to said Towels being waved about by the visiting team’s fans.
Silent until just yesterday, de Ville issued the following statement: “I had no idea that ebola was a terrible disease currently affecting thousands of people and can cause a horrible death. I was referring to an internet website page site where people all over the world bid on and buy and sell items over the net. My intent was not to offend anybody.”
While some detractors of the team, and of the NFL itself, whose image is nothing if not of a classy, stand-up, credible, law-abiding, straight and narrow organization, are calling for the mascot’s dismissal, his explanation seems credible. The same mascot came under fire in the past for previous signs he’d been seen holding at games.
During a 2009 home game against the Baltimore Ravens, de Ville carried a sign throughout the game saying he had a cure for the visiting team’s “Case of Bird Flu,” outraging people who thought he was minimizing the world outbreak of Avian influenza. He issued a similar apology at that time.
And in 2004, during a game against the visiting Indianapolis Colts, he held up a sign saying he hoped that “SARS gets those COLTS” ostensibly referring to the viral respiratory disease that had struck Asia. de Ville at that time insisted he was referring to “the government agency in charge of taxing people, I meant I hope the Colts players get audited. Simple mistake.”
Indeed, even nearly 15 years ago, de Ville was making similar blunders. During the last home game in December of that year, when the Jaguars were playing the Denver Broncos, he displayed a sign saying he wished “The Broncos Plane Goes Down In A Horrible Accident because of Y2K and Everyone DIES !!”
No explanation was given by de Ville for that particular gaffe. Continue reading
