The Philadelphia Eagles released their 2014 NFL Week 6 flash video cartoon in anticipation of their upcoming game against the New York Giants. Watch the entire video clip above this post, via the team's Vimeo page.
The theme of this week's video involves making fun of Giants quarterback Eli Manning. The Eagles have used this same "Little Eli" character in previous years. The cartoon Manning is seen taunting at Lincoln Financial Field before the lights go out and he gets spooked by the ghostly image of Eagles defensive players such as Bennie Logan, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Beau Allen, Cedric Thornton, and an especially scary Malcolm Jenkins. Manning goes on to run and trip off-screen and receives a wedgie and gets his shirt stuck over his face somehow. Then he complains and runs off the screen. End.
So once again it's a cheesy video. It falls in line with all of the other Eagles videos, the ones the team has been releasing for years, except this one has more of a trash talk element given the nature of Philadelphia's rival opponent. Still, it seems like no big deal, right?
WRONG.
According to various New York media outlets, this video is a very serious offense. CBS New York goes on to call this video "VICIOUS". Yes, all caps.
The New York Daily News suggested the video implies hazing:
The trash talk between the Giants and Eagles has reached cartoon-like levels of bad taste with tone-deaf Philly releasing a video on Friday that suggests the type of hazing that allegedly cost a New Jersey high school its football season and resulted in charges against seven players.
and even draws comparisons to former Baltimore Ravens running back punching his wife in an elevator.
While the video is meant to be in jest and part of the passion-play rivalry that exists between the two teams, now is probably not the best time to show football players beating on each other.
Not with the image of Ray Rice cold-cocking his then fiancée in a casino elevator still fresh in people’s minds.
The NY Daily News then went on to say:
The Eagles did not respond to several messages for comment.
Yeah, I wonder why.