On Sunday, Twitter was awash in photos of former Buffalo Bills running back and current parolee O.J. Simpson hobnobbing with Bills fans ahead of the team’s wild-card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In one picture, Simpson poses next to a gentleman wearing a T-shirt that features a white Ford Bronco and the words “The Juice Is Loose.”
Given that we now inhabit a tacky dystopia of rehashed ‘90s nightmares, none of this should come as a surprise. What should have been a surprise, however, would be that Simpson would travel to Jacksonville to participate in a pre-game tailgate. Upon Simpson’s release from a Nevada prison in October of last year, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (who is herself a bit player in the aforementioned dystopia), issued a statement saying Simpson would not be welcome in the state, citing the “added dangers that his relocation would pose to our citizens.”
Of course, O.J. Simpson isn’t in Jacksonville partying with Bills fans; he’s in Las Vegas partying with Bills fans.
Still, lots of folks assumed the shots were taken outside EverBank Field in Jacksonville. Albert Breer, a senior NFL reporter for Sports Illustrated’s MMQB, was among those duped, tweeting his dismay at the “#BillsMafia scene in Jacksonville.” (He later retweeted someone correcting him.)
Thankfully, there’s a valuable lesson we can learn from all this: Geo-tag your photos on social media. It will help those curating the scenes from our current hellscape get the details right.
