Jacksonville Jaguars apologize for mascot’s Ebola joke

As if things aren’t going badly enough for the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, now they’re apologizing for one of their mascot’s jokes.

Jaxson de Ville touched off a controversy by holding a sign during Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that said “Towels carry Ebola,” a reference to the Steelers’ Terrible Towel tradition and the deadly virus epidemic in West Africa.

After there was some outrage on social media, the Jaguars apologized, blaming the improvisational act of the man who wears a yellow jaguar suit and rides around on a Segway on game days. 

“Improvisation and humor have both been key elements to the character of Jaxson DeVille, especially when he performs at home games,” Jaguars president Mark Lamping said in a statement, according to Jacksonville.com. “On Sunday, the person who has played Jaxson DeVille over the past 20 seasons made an extremely poor decision in that regard. The team was unaware of this inappropriate sign, which was hand-made by Jaxson during the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game, until after it had been displayed. We are handling the matter internally and taking it very seriously. We extend our sincerest apologies to anyone who was offended.”

The Jaguars are 0-5 after losing to Pittsburgh on Sunday. There are pretty big issues for the franchise to address as they rebuild, and that now includes apology statements for its mascot.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab