Louis Riddick’s ‘Chiefs Not Indians’ Comment During NFL Draft Draws Faux Outrage From Sports Illustrated, Outlet Immediately Gets Called Out

Published|Updated

During ESPN's NFL Draft coverage on Thursday night, analyst and former NFL safety Louis Riddick made a comment that included the words 'Indians' and 'chiefs.' While what he said was a little odd, it doesn't make him or what he said offensive or racist, despite some folks on Twitter and Sports Illustrated attempting to insinuate that after the fact.

The moment came after the Arizona Cardinals selected Paris Johnson Jr. with the sixth-overall pick. Riddick began breaking down the Ohio State tackle's game and the Cardinals' needs and said "they need chiefs on their team, not Indians, chiefs."

That's it, that's all he said. But hey, we live in 2023, many years into the era in which the sports world is trying to erase anything involving Native Americans.

We live in a world now where little kids playing 'Cowboys and Indians' is considered offensive, so when an ESPN analyst even says the word 'Indians' on the air you know the faux outrage is going to pour out, which is exactly what happened.

Sports Illustrated Wants You To Be Offended By Louis Riddick's Phrase

Sports Illustrated ran with the headline 'ESPN's Louis Riddick Facing Criticism After Insensitive Proverb During NFL Draft.' Notice that the outlet didn't have the stomach to write the word 'Indian' in the headline, which would likely make the story perform better given the fact people are searching some iteration of 'Louis Riddick Indian,' but SI wouldn't dare risk upsetting some of its woke audience.

Sports Illustrated and The Spun, which is an SI publication, are the only recognizable websites to publish a story about Riddick's "insensitive proverb." They're not afraid to jump aboard the faux outrage train so as long as they're culturally accepted on Twitter, which is not real life, believe it or not.

While some folks on Twitter acted legitimately offended by Riddick saying the words 'Indians' and 'Chiefs' out loud, every single reply to SI's tweet sharing the story is someone calling them out for how ridiculous it is that they even wrote the story, let alone acted offended.

At the time of this writing, there are 24 replies to the tweet, all 24 are critical of Sports Illustrated.

It's always refreshing to see people who aren't offended by anything and everything actually speak out about ridiculousness.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.