Earlier today, LA Rams defensive coordinator, Raheem Morris, was appointed the next coach of the Atlanta Falcons, after the Falcons fired former head coach, Arthur Smith, on the dreaded yearly ‘Black Monday’.
Despite interviewing and entering far in the process with big name candidates such as Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh, the latter of whom was eventually hired by the Los Angeles Chargers, the job was finally given to Morris, who was done a fantastic job at revitalizing and rebuilding what is a very young Rams defense full of later round players on rookie or 2nd year deals.
Raheem Morris…Or Someone Else?
On what was a fairly routine twitter visual, a certain media outlet (not this one, of course), gave a…misleading, or in fact, just fully incorrect picture to go alongside the announcement of Morris being hired.
Uhhhh, this isn’t Raheem Morris… 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/MDz8OqSiCa
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) January 25, 2024
For those who are wondering, the man in the picture above is in fact Ejiro Evero, the current Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator who has been linked to several jobs this cycle, including both the Panthers, before they hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, Dave Canales, the Seattle Seahawks, and, in fact, the very same job Morris won – the Atlanta Falcons.
How Did People React To This Untimely Mistake?
Obviously not great, and reactions ranged second hand embarrassment to simply highly unimpressed.
This is awful… The #Falcons named
Raheem Morris, the first African-American coach in team history, but the AP decided to use a picture of Ejiro Evero as the photo in the article.— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 25, 2024
The AP doesn’t see color, or faces, or even names bc this is Carolina DC Ejiro Evero… not Raheem Morris pic.twitter.com/1jvUrTQRm6
— Ken Larimer (@Kengoallnight) January 26, 2024
Whilst others thought it would be more helpful to simply correct the mistake from the AP.
THIS is Raheem Morris. pic.twitter.com/PHO9AvXRCm
— Chris Swartout (@chrisswartout) January 25, 2024
And, of course, others mocked.
Per the AP Raheem Morris hired as new Atlanta coach. https://t.co/4TttfzZMQ5 pic.twitter.com/gp0Z03CP3C
— Scott Teague (@actorscott) January 25, 2024
How Did The Associated Press Respond?
The AP did not make too many bones about what happened, and instead corrected themselves straightforwardly.
This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted because it included the wrong photo.
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 26, 2024
Anyone can make a mistake, but this is evidently a very silly and hurtful one, if most likely meant without malintent . The perils of our interconnected world rears its head once more – get your photos right!