On Monday, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott posted an innocent picture to his Instagram account taken at “Von Miller Day,” held in Miller’s hometown of Desoto, Texas, over the weekend. Alongside Elliott was Miller and Errol Spence Jr., a professional boxer. Cool photo, right?
WRONG! This is the internet after all, and Elliott wasn’t just going to post a picture without getting roasted for being … fat? That’s right, the fat-shamers were out in full force, a yearly occurrence during the NFL offseason when a star player takes a photo at a very bad angle, which is what happened to Elliott here. The black shirt, the upward angle of the camera and the fact that Elliott’s head is humongous did him no favors here. His followers were harsh, to say the least.
“Oh you be on [the] Eddie Lacy diet,” said one fan, referring to the former Green Bay Packers running back who received endless fat jokes a few years ago during the offseason.
“Looks like they been feeding you too much bruh!” said another follower.
“Bruhh I hope you still in football shape,” said one man who probably has zero clue what it entails to be an NFL running back.
“I’m gonna be pissed if you come out this season sloppy and slow. That money has you living like there's no next season. 1st year you tore it up. Last year you looked a little out of shape and were a bit disappointing. Get in the gym and help get us a superbowl. Stay focused man,” said another fan, dead seriously, as if he were the owner of the Dallas Cowboys and not (checks notes) a dude with 333 Instagram followers.
How did Zeke respond? An over-the-top weight room video? A five-mile run? By posting a picture of his kale caesar salad? Nope, he instead responded in the best way he could, by having Dak Prescott shower him with popcorn at the Dallas Stars game on Monday night:
Strong way to block out the haters. Just keep feeding Zeke, whether it be popcorn or the football. Dak knows where his bread his buttered. Anybody else hungry?
Jokes aside, Ezekiel Elliott is going to be just fine. All he did last year was rush for over 1,400 yards and catch 77 balls (career high) for a 567 receiving yards (career high), stats that earned him a second trip to the Pro Bowl and a second-team All Pro selection. Whatever he is doing, and eating, is working.
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