NFL gets roasted on Twitter for post about Hispanic Heritage Month

Kalhan Rosenblatt
·2 min read

The National Football League's design for Hispanic Heritage Month is far from a touchdown.

At least, that's according to Twitter users who have relentlessly mocked the design of the NFL's campaign to celebrate Hispanic and Latino players.

In a tweet posted on Thursday, the NFL shared an image for the “Por La Cultura” campaign. The image showed the league’s shield with an “eñe” accent over, the “N” in “NFL.” The “eñe” is written as “Ñ” in Spanish and is its own letter in the language rather than an “N” with a tilde over it, according to The Diversity Style Guide.

"This shield integrates unmistakable Latin flavor and is fundamental to our always-on, 365-day initiative," read an image posted by the NFL describing the Hispanic Heritage Month shield. "The electric brush stroke of the 'eñe' is filled with an infectious personality that is carried out through the rest of the look [and] feel."

The NFL said its month-long campaign "highlights Latino players, coaches and staff, celebrates Latino excellence and tells authentic stories of the community."

Users were quick to point out that the Spanish word for "national," which is "nacional," does not have an "eñe" and words in Spanish do not start with an "eñe."

"This is embarrassing. There is no eñe in the world nacional. We don’t say Eñe F L we say NFL. Apologize," tweeted author Julissa Natzely Arce Raya, adding a face-palm emoji.

Others decided to start adding "eñe" to other names that don't use the letter.

"According to the #NFL, I’m eating at Iñ-ñ-Out tonight in celebration of #HispanicHeritageMonth," tweeted criminal justice reform advocate Jerónimo Saldaña.

Others mocked the design of the logo, sharing images from the television show "The Office," in which character Ryan Howard, played by BJ Novak, draws an "eñe" over the "n" in "lemonade," transforming the drink into "Mexican lemonade."

Sportswriter Nate Atkins updated his Twitter display name, adding an "eñe" to the "N" in "Nate." He tweeted: "Putting a Ñ in NFL to highlight Latino culture is so lazy and probably cost a lot of time and money to get approved lol."

A spokesperson for the NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com