Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson expressed his dissatisfaction with the NFL’s social media team on Sunday after the league’s X account (formerly Twitter) shared a photo of a fan holding what he believed to be an inappropriate sign.
Following the Detroit Lions’ touchdown in their eventual victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round, NBC cameras captured a Lions fan holding a sign that made reference to coach Dan Campbell’s memorable introductory press conference in January 2021.
“So this team’s going to be built on—we’re gonna kick you in the teeth, all right. And when you punch us back, we’re gonna smile at you,” Campbell said three years ago. “And when you knock us down, we’re gonna get up. And on the way up, we’re gonna bite a kneecap off, all right.
“And we’re gonna stand up, and then it’s gonna take two more shots to knock us down. And on the way up, we’re gonna take your other kneecap, and we’re gonna get up and then it’s gonna take three shots to get us down. And when we do, we’re gonna take another hunk out of you. Before long, we’re gonna be the last one standing. That’s gonna be the mentality.”
The fan’s sign highlighted each team that the Detroit Lions had defeated in recent weeks to advance to the NFC championship game, specifically noting “kneecap” next to the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings.
Reacting to the sign, Justin Jefferson expressed his disapproval, stating, “Yall wild for this. This ain’t cool!!” Jefferson’s comment is likely in reference to the knee injuries that Lions’ opponents suffered in recent weeks. In the Lions’ victories against the Vikings in the regular-season finale and the Rams in the wild-card round, Detroit defensive back Kerby Joseph delivered hard hits directly on the knees of two players, resulting in season-ending ACL injuries for Minnesota tight end T.J. Hockenson and Rams tight end Tyler Higbee.
It seems unlikely that the NFL’s social media team made the connection to the injuries, but Justin Jefferson was clearly disappointed nonetheless.
