First noticed for his critical comments about game officials, the Puka Nacua livestream appearance from Tuesday night has sparked concern for his performance of a potential touchdown celebration that includes an antisemitic trope.
Privately, some in league circles are decrying the gesture. One source with a team other than the Rams dubbed it “horrible.”
Publicly, no one is saying anything. At least not yet.
The league has said nothing. The Rams have said nothing. Nacua has said nothing. The NFL Players Association has said nothing.
Meanwhile, Prime Video’s coverage of the Week 16 Rams-Seahawks game begins in less than six hours. How will the NFL broadcast partner handle the situation, either during the pregame show or the game broadcast?
It’s hard to imagine the NFL and the team not addressing the situation. Surely, it will be a topic of questions to Nacua and/or coach Sean McVay during postgame press conferences.
And while coverage of the situation has not been robust (ESPN.com, for example, has nothing about it), others are speaking up. Said Rep. Eric Swallwell on Twitter: The Los Angeles Jewish community is on edge after the Bondi Beach massacre. And what does this asshole . . . do? He promises an antisemitic touchdown dance for his Thursday night game. He should apologize or be dropped.”
It’s unclear whether Nacua understood the implication of the gesture at the time he made it. The hosts, who discussed the possibility away from Nacua (and openly wondered whether it would get them “in trouble”), didn’t explain the significance of it to him.
Still, Nacua knows about it now. As does the league, the team, and the union. For how long will they remain silent?
