Los Angeles Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua is creating headlines both on and off the field this week.
On the field, Nacua had 12 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’ 38-37 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.
That performance came one day after he performed a potential touchdown celebration that included an antisemitic undertone and criticized NFL officiating during a livestream.
On Thursday afternoon, Nacua apologized for his actions in relation to the controversial celebration, saying that he does not stand “for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people.”
As for the NFL officiating, well, he didn’t leave that alone after Thursday’s game. In fact, he added fuel to the fire that could land him a fine from the league.
“Can you say I was wrong,” Nacua posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Appreciate you stripes for your contribution. lol.”
Nacua, 24, has since deleted the tweet, one day after he said on the livestream that “the refs are the worst.”
“These guys want to be … these guys are lawyers. They want to be on TV, too,” Nacua added. “You don’t think he’s texting his friends in the group chat like, ‘Yo, you guys just saw me on ‘Sunday Night Football.’ That wasn’t P.I., but I called it.’”
NFL players and coaches can be fined for publicly criticizing referees and officials.
As for the tweet itself, Nacua dismissed it as being sent in “a moment of frustration after a tough, intense game like that.”
Thursday’s game featured the reversal of what initially was deemed to be an incompletion on a potential game-tying two-point conversion. Replay review deemed it to be a backward pass that led to a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet.
Nacua has an NFL-high 114 catches for 1,592 yards and eight touchdowns in 14 games this season.
–Field Level Media
