There may be a cross-feed or two in the Dallas Cowboys marketing department, or maybe the team is just enjoying a bit of chaos in their social media feeds.
A strange Wednesday began when Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott posted an apparent throwback helmet on his Instagram Story without any explanation.
Reading between the lines was not difficult. The helmet was clearly going to be something the Cowboys were going to wear (probably on Thanksgiving), and because Elliott was the only one displaying it at the time, he probably leaked it, much to the dismay of the marketing team. cowboys.
This social media blip and ready-made story of Elliott leaking something he shouldn’t have was fun enough to get coverage and chatter, with headlines like “Ezekiel Elliott Leaks Helmets of the Cowboys for the Thanksgiving game” and “Ezekiel Elliott unveils the Cowboys’ turkey of the day helmets … blows the team’s big surprise!?!”
The Cowboys seemingly confirmed the leak when they quoted a tweet from an NFL media partner with a “Go bruhhhh…” message addressed to their running back.
But this is where things get a little weird. The team had already unveiled the helmets. With great fanfare.
In July, the team sent out a press release revealing they planned to wear the helmets back for Thanksgiving with a photo attached, while posting a video showing off the headgear to their social media feed. A many people have tweeted about this helmet.
So what is it? Did the Cowboys forget they already revealed the helmet (which almost certainly didn’t happen)? Did they decide that a viral marketing campaign was doable even though the headset was already available? Or did Elliott post a photo of a Cowboys helmet and content-hungry media ecosystem with the best narrative available, when the team just rolled with it?
It’s probably the last. But that doesn’t make it any less bizarre.
In non-helmet news, Elliott is currently recovering from a sprained knee that caused him to miss last week’s 49-29 win over the Chicago Bears. In Elliott’s absence, Tony Pollard burst with 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries plus 16 receiving yards, making Elliott’s recovery on their bye week all the more intriguing.