*A $150 NFC Championship poster featuring a photo of Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch making an “obscene gesture” has been discontinued by the NFL.
The Huffington Post reports the poster attracted critics that referenced it as a proof of that the league profits off actions it publicly denounces.
“This was a mistake,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Post in an emailed statement. “It was generated by licensee and we worked to pull it down last night. Plays that result in discipline are not permitted for commercial use.”
The NFL’s discontinuance of the poster comes after Lynch was fined $20,000 by the league late last week for an “obscene gesture” made during the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers. As a result, the NFL warned the Seahawks would receive a 15-yard penalty in the Super Bowl if Lynch does it again.
Although it hadn’t previously stated which gesture it deemed obscene, the NFL seemed to confirm in its statement to HuffPost that it gesture in question was the grab Lynch made after the following touchdown:
The league’s hypocrisy was especially noted on Sunday when Mike Sando of ESPN.com mentioned that the NFL was selling a poster for $149.95 that included a photo of the grab, despite fining Lynch for the gesture. In addition to Sando, Deadspin’s Timothy Burke weighed in on the situation, as he labeled the NFL’s actions as a clear display of its hypocrisy.
“NFL hypocrisy isn’t even surprising anymore, and we’d love to hear them explain away this officially licensed product,” Burke said at the time.
