If we've learned one thing about the Green Bay Packers over the past few weeks, it's that they don't seem to be very happy with the state of officiating in the NFL. After a 20-17 loss to the Lions in Week 7 that featured several controversial calls going against Green Bay, several Packers players openly complained about the officiating. Players can get fined a lot of money for criticizing officials, but that didn't stop safety Xavier McKinney from speaking his mind.
"I don't know how the NFL's going to treat it, but I'm not a big fan of the refs right now," McKinney said. "I don't think it's great officiating, if I'm being completely honest. I think it's bullshit a lot of the times." The NFL fined McKinney $25,000 for those comments.
The game against the Lions was played on Oct. 25, and six days later, Jordan Love decided to wear a very interesting costume for Halloween. The Packers quarterback teamed up with his wife, Ronika Stone, and the two dressed up as blind refs. Stone shared a video of the duo on her TikTok account.
Jordan and Ronika’s Halloween costumes 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/j1ymUlcjvl As you can see, they went all out here: They used walking sticks, they wore sunglasses and they both threw a flag after they bumped into each other. Packers coach Matt LaFleur was actually asked about Love's costume on Thursday, and well, he was a big fan of it. "He did send me the clip, and I thought it was pretty hilarious," LaFleur said.
"But I probably should refrain from giving my two cents on that." The Packers coach probably didn't want to give his "two cents" on the costume because he knows the NFL is sensitive when it comes to players or coaches criticizing officials. That's why McKinney got fined, and that's why it will be interesting to see if the league has any reaction to Love's costume. After a TikTok commenter pointed out that Love might get fined for the costume, Ronika quickly responded, "We're Footlocker employees." That excuse probably would have worked if they didn't throw any penalty flags, but thanks to those flags, it's pretty clear that the two of them are making fun of football officials.
And the fact that they wore the costume less than a week after the Packers were on the wrong side of several questionable calls makes it even more clear who they were making fun of. The bad news for Love is that there is precedent for the NFL to hand out a fine even if a player is doing something on their own time. Last year, Puka Nacua got fined $25,000 for criticizing officials while being interviewed on a podcast on his own time, so yes, the NFL could go after Love.
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