The official Twitter account for FC Dallas deleted a tweet sent Friday afternoon that poked fun at the six-game suspension levied on Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.
“Yo @EzekielElliott, we’ve got six games for you,” the club tweeted, with a graphic showing its six remaining home games.
The tweet was taken down just minutes after it was posted, but screenshots live on. Don't see tweets below? Go here.
Never forgot pic.twitter.com/neZhJibxTr
— Frank (@FrankieS215) August 11, 2017
FC Dallas tweeted an apology later Friday.
“We apologize for an inappropriate and insensitive message posted today,” the tweet read. “It does not reflect our values. We have addressed this internally.”
We apologize for an inappropriate and insensitive message posted today. It does not reflect our values. We have addressed this internally.
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) August 11, 2017
While responses to the initial tweet were mostly negative, replies to the apology were more accepting of the joke.
That tweet was actually pretty damn clever. Definitely appealed to the crowd who can take sarcasm and love sports no matter what!
— Ceci 👑👩 (@mccanelos) August 11, 2017
Please don't be sorry.
— William Christopher (@williambarnes5) August 11, 2017
Don't be sorry. Who ever did it, thank you for the laugh.
— Gerardo Sifuentes (@GerSifuentes) August 11, 2017
I didn't find anything wrong with it, people need to lighten up and quit being so sensitive 😆
— Miguel Gonzalez (@mikegonzalez12) August 11, 2017
Elliott was suspended six games over domestic violence allegations made against him more than a year ago in Ohio. The Columbus city attorney’s office decided not to charge Elliott after an alleged string of incidents in July 2016, citing conflicting evidence, but the NFL still has the authority to punish players under the personal conduct policy.
Elliott’s representatives say the league’s findings are inaccurate. He is expected to appeal the suspension, and has three days to do so.