The Internet Is Thoroughly Destroying the New NFL Ed Sheeran Merch

By Brendan Menapace

Are you ready for some football?

I said, are you ready for some football?!

Then let’s get amped up for the roughest, most action packed game in the world with some fiery tunes from none other than …

*Checks notes*

Ed Sheeran!

That’s right, sports fans. Acoustic-pop wonder boy Ed Sheeran is getting this NFL season started by performing before the Buccaneers-Cowboys game tonight in Tampa. It’s possible that he heard “football” and, being a big English football fan, got confused. But, you know, a paycheck is a paycheck, and the American fans are demanding a performance by the man whose musical stylings are synonymous with hard tackles and big plays.

And to appease those masses frothing at the mouth in anticipation of the performance, the NFL released a special line of NFL x Ed Sheeran apparel, dropping the singer/songwriter’s name onto things like T-shirts, jackets and hats right next to the NFL emblem, where it belongs.

The reviews are in, and NFL fans can't wait to get their hands on the whole line:

Omg I just had to get one of each! pic.twitter.com/EwbbowOELE

— Mike Renner (@mikerenner_) September 9, 2021

pic.twitter.com/soDFgFvqeU

— Matt B (@supermattt123) September 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/LomTawler/status/1435746510344491010

They gonna have to send that Ed Sheeran NFL gear to the Philippines like the Super Bowl loser gear.

— FOST (@GeorgeFoster72) September 9, 2021

So, buckle up football fans. Toss aside that Tom Brady jersey. Chuck that Cowboys hat across the room (and into the trash). Because the NFL has a new leader, and it is Ed Sheeran.

In all seriousness, though, we can see why the NFL is getting so thoroughly roasted online. (There are a lot more tweets where those came from.) If there was a Venn diagram showing the overlap between Ed Sheeran fans and NFL fans, we'd bet it'd be two separate circles with a gap between them big enough to fit a football field.

The other issue is this merchandise is NFL-branded. There are lots of fans of NFL teams out there, but who (aside from Rob Lowe) is a fan of the league itself? You can throw a rock in Philly and hit someone wearing Eagles gear, but you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody rocking an NFL shield hat.

No disrespect to Ed Sheeran or the NFL. And the merchandise certainly looks good on its own terms. (Love the shiny foil imprint.) But this seems like a case of not knowing the audience. In the words of one Twitter user: "hope this goes over well for y'all [skull emoji]":