SportsFootball

NFL player arrives in Canada wearing a 'Winnipeg, Alberta' t-shirt

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Aug 22 2019, 5:50 pm
NFL player arrives in Canada wearing a 'Winnipeg, Alberta' t-shirt

NFL players arrived in style for the league’s first-ever game in Winnipeg.

Members of the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers touched down in the Manitoba capital on Wednesday, ahead of Thursday’s preseason game at IG Field.

The biggest star to arrive was Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who arrived wearing a Canadian tuxedo complete with a bolo tie.

Raiders players took a different approach.

Excited to be playing north of the border, placekicker Daniel Carlson stepped off the plane wearing a Jets t-shirt, while punter AJ Cole rocked a Winnipeg t-shirt.

Just one problem, Cole’s t-shirt inexplicably said “Winnipeg, Alberta.”

Canadian football fans were quick to point out the error…

Even the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers were chirping the poor guy, who was signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of NC State in May.

…while the Winnipeg Jets offered to help…

Even Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman got involved:

So where did Cole get his shirt from? Amazon, of course:

Like a good honorary Canadian, Cole apologized for his faux pas.

“Apologies to the citizens of Winnipeg, Manitoba… just a kid from Atlanta, Florida playing football in Oakland, Nevada with a low geography IQ,” he said.

Of course, this didn’t stop the chirping from Canadian teammate Luke Willson, who may have willfully allowed this whole incident to happen:

Whatever the case, it looks like Winnipeg is excited to have the NFL in town — even if organizers priced most fans out of the stadium. A look at Ticketmaster shows there’s still a significant amount of empty seats for the game — despite the fact that organizers have slashed prices in an apparent last-ditch effort to boost attendance numbers.

Rob WilliamsRob Williams
+ Offside
+ Football

SUBSCRIBE TO THE HIVE

Get the latest news sent to your inbox and stay in the loop