As the Daily Dot has tirelessly chronicled, Harambe loved football. That’s why it comes as such a shock that the professional arm of the fallen silverback gorilla’s favorite sport has betrayed him.
According to ESPN reporter Darren Rovell, the NFL is blocking the sale of custom jerseys with Harambe as the nameplate. The New Orleans Saints’ official Twitter account corroborated this.
NFLShop now blocks fans wanting to get a HARAMBE nameplate on jerseys.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 14, 2016
Sad but true 😞 #RIPHarambe pic.twitter.com/nE4okY5ULC
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 14, 2016
And this guy found a loophole.
found a loophole pic.twitter.com/QGgCBOfuYf
— Nolan (@NRE_317) September 14, 2016
Seeking a loophole of my own (and a reason to replace my shitty Frank Gore-numbered, “Siese” nameplated 49ers jersey with a Harambe one), I dropped by the NFL custom shop only to find an error message.
A Google Cached View still shows a fully operational custom shop, yet clicking on any displayed jersey led me right back to the same error message. Did the NFL just shutter one of its biggest money-making online stores because of Harambe? The Daily Dot reached out the the NFL Shop and is awaiting a response.
.@OfficialNFLShop did y’all close down the custom shop bc of harambe or nah?
— April Siese (@ayetalian) September 14, 2016
In the meantime, keep those loopholes comin’. Fight the power for Harambe.
Update Sept. 15 8:22am CT: The gods have smiled upon us once more.
BREAKING: Harambe can once again be put on back of all jerseys, was listed as a banned word by mistake https://t.co/uviJG1z0Fi
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 15, 2016
It turns out that Harambe was erroneously put on a list of banned words after an MLB official complained about jerseys being sold that explicitly honored the ape who died. Fanatics, the company in charge of turning your custom sports gear dreams into reality, took that concern seriously. So seriously that it banned Harambe across professional leagues, including the NFL. They’ve since amended that error. Harambe would be thrilled.