'Crown still fit': Cryptic message hints at Puka Nacua's future in LA

LOS ANGELES -- On the Friday following a bruising Week 16 engagement in Seattle, a digital observer ran into a post by Emmanuel Forbes Jr., a Los Angeles Rams cornerback, on the Instagram story of teammate Puka Nacua. It was less than twenty-four hours after the Rams had suffered a 38-37 overtime defeat on "Thursday Night Football."

In the image, Forbes Jr. and Nacua were celebrating in the locker room, a tableau of solidarity. The caption:

"Cross on my back but the crown still fit."

The post suggested that Nacua, who recently switched his jersey from #17 to #12 to accommodate the arrival of Davante Adams, was concerned that a recent social media controversy might cause a problem with his public standing, and so the post was popping up to iron out any wrinkles regarding his resilience.

A few days prior, the Rams had similar concerns about a stream appearance involving Adin Ross and an alleged "antisemitic" celebration. 

No fewer than one formal apology was issued by Nacua to chart out the moral territory, lest the public perception not be just right—though Ross himself would later vociferously defend the receiver, citing his own Jewish heritage to dismiss the backlash as moral inconsistency.

“To all the people on Twitter going at puka,” Ross said. “I did that. I'm Jewish. It's the same way that my Mexican brother, he'll crack Mexican jokes. I could stereotype and do my own Jewish s***. I'm celebrating Hanukkah tonight. I'm lighting my manor tonight. What is it? The fourth day of Hanukkah. So, I'm doing that tonight. My mom text me all the time for Friday Shabbat. 

“So, all you guys that want to be the moral inconsistency here, I take a stand for human rights. What's going on in Gaza, for example, I take a stand for that type of stuff. You people can't do that. You're funded by all these companies and and it's sad. So you're all sellouts for a reason.”

No doubt there are other receivers who routinely navigate the turbulence of public scrutiny to handle all manner of problems great and small. But few of those receivers involve such historic production. Indeed, there are few, if any, pro sports franchises that possess a weapon matching Nacua when it comes to the top-shelf manner in which he operates between the white lines. In reaching the 4,000-yard career milestone in just 42 games—tying the pace of Odell Beckham Jr. and Justin Jefferson—and amassing a staggering 573 yards over a three-game span, Nacua managed to exceed in three weeks what Cleveland’s Jerry Jeudy required an entire season to produce. 

It is a level of efficacy the Rams hope to maintain as they prepare to visit Atlanta for a Monday night engagement on ESPN, before returning to SoFi Stadium to close out the ledger against Arizona.