Ninja Falls Victim to Old Takes Exposed on Twitter
By Jeff Kotuby ·
In a moment of sports Twitter and video game Twitter intersecting, Ninja became the latest personality to get called out by Old Takes Exposed.
Tyler "Ninja" Blevins is no stranger to professional football. The longtime Detroit Lions fan called a Thursday Night Football game on Twitch and was even featured in the NFL 100 ad which played during Super Bowl LIII. However, one of Ninja's bolder football claims turned out to not be quite on the money - and one of Twitter's gems let him know about it.
CC: @ninja
— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) March 4, 2019
(THX @tylerkcotrell!) #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/uKNWqig4JE
So, let us translate a little of what's going on here. Old Takes Exposed is the brainchild of Fred Segal, a sports fan who has developed a reputation putting sports gasbags on blast for their incorrect predictions or awful hot takes. While he normally feasts on the bloated sports gasbaggery of Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd, today's menu consisted of Ninja's misguided personnel decision.
The "he" in Ninja's tweet referred to Dee Ford, the Kansas City Chief's talented EDGE rusher who lined up offsides in the team's AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots. The penalty was a key turning point in the game that saw the Patriots win and ultimately bring home the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LIII.
The franchise tag is, in Layman's terms, a guaranteed one-year, one-time-use contract for a team to hold onto a player they would like to negotiate with next year - or trade. Ford doesn't seem to be going anywhere this year, meaning Ninja's take is ice cold - at least for now!
Is this a little pedantic? Probably. But it is interesting and kind of cool to see sports figures, who have long seen video games and esports as lesser in status, acknowledge and even hold gaming figures to the same level as more "traditional" stalwarts in the industry. Hopefully, this is just the start of sports minds keeping esports athletes in on the jokes - even if it's at their expense.