It has become an annual tradition for NFL teams to try to go viral with social media videos announcing their schedules for the coming season.
Some teams, like the L.A. Chargers, consistently nail it.
Others have had their share of issues, but it’s not often that a franchise actually deletes their post.
The Indianapolis Colts fell into that unfortunate second category after the team was criticized for mocking Miami Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill, who was detained by police on his way to the stadium before a game last year.
The clip, which had been downloaded and reposted by other users on X, showed – in a Minecraft animation style (more on that later) — a dolphin swimming before an officer in a Coast Guard boat pulls up behind it. The animated animal, which is wearing a No. 10 Miami jersey and has the name “Hill” in a block above it, looks back at the boat before dropping its eyes.
The clip was a reference to Hill’s controversial detainment on Sept. 8, 2024, when the all-pro was pulled him over by police outside of the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium before the team’s Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to the New York Post, police officers forcibly removed Hill from his car — with one putting his hands around Hill’s neck — and handcuffed the receiver while he was lying face-down on the ground.
Hill received tickets for careless driving and a seatbelt violation which were later dismissed.
The team took down the clip after getting heat not just over the insensitive joke, though. The team also got push back from Microsoft, the owner of Minecraft, for “exceeding (its) rights” to use the popular video game’s animated style.
“We removed our schedule release video because it exceeded our rights with Microsoft and included an insensitive clip involving Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill,” the Colts said in a statement Thursday, according to Pro Football Talk. “We sincerely apologize to Microsoft and Tyreek.”
Hill didn’t seem too bothered by the potshot taken by his Week 1 opponent. The Miami star replied to news of the clip being deleted by writing on X: “Should’ve left it up Colts, this was funny.”
The Dolphins weren’t the only NFL team to use Minecraft as an inspiration for their schedule release video – the Chargers also channelled the game-turned-hit-movie for their clip.
The big exception, though, is that the L.A. franchise posted a legal disclaimer at the beginning.
“Minecraft used with permission from Microsoft Corporation, any opinions or commentary in this video are not endorsed by Microsoft Corporations or Mojang AB, TM,” the video stated.