The Tampa Bay Buccaneers called an audible on a controversial social media post that made light of the 65-year-old victim of a recent bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.
Carl McDaniel was injured by the agitated bison at Bridge Bay Compound in the national park as he and his grandson were walking by at around 8:30pm on Friday.
Viral video of the attack showed the irritated bull chasing McDaniel through a cluster of trees before effortlessly flinging the grandfather high into the air. As a result, McDaniel broke his femur in four places, he told CNN.
The Buccaneers social media team seized on the video Monday by splicing it together with a clip of Tampa Bay wide receiver Tez Johnson’s popular touchdown celebration: a twisting flip in the end zone.
By Tuesday, the team had second thoughts and decided to remove the post, much to the dismay of angry fans.
‘This country has become so soft,’ one fan wrote, adding, ‘no sense of humor!!’
Carl McDaniel was injured by the agitated bison at Bridge Bay Compound in the national park as he and his grandson were walking by at around 8:30pm on Friday
The Bucs’ video spliced McDaniel’s near-death experience with a Tez Johnson TD celebration
McDaniel is seen with one of his grandchildren. The 65-year-old recently underwent surgery
The grandfather was sent flying eight feet into the air after an agitated bison rammed him
‘The Bucs are some b****es,’ another added. ‘They should’ve kept that shit up.’
One critic complained that ‘they’re (sic) social media team has been woke garbage (sic) for years.’
The good news for McDaniel is that he is already back on his feet following surgery.
‘I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,’ he said.
McDaniel admitted the roughly 2,000-pound bison could have easily killed him.
‘When I was on the ground, immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me,’ McDaniel told CNN. ‘He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life and he did not do so.’
It remains unclear what may have provoked the beast to attack the grandfather on Friday evening, although the incident came amid bison mating season when males have increased testosterone levels.
