Jacksonville Jaguars Mascot Jaxson de Ville Makes Ebola Joke, Team President Mark Lamping Apologizes

Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping was forced to apologize on behalf of the team's mascot, Jaxson de Ville, Monday, Oct. 6, after the character attempted to make a joke at the expense of the Pittsburgh Steelers the day before. Rather than provoke any chuckles, the mascot instead managed to offend nearly an entire nation.

The sunglasses-wearing, Segway-riding, yellow-and-teal jaguar rolled up and down the sidelines at EverBank Field while waving a Terrible Towel — a Steelers tradition — and proudly held up a sign that read, "TOWELS CARRY EBOLA."

The backlash was immediate, with fans taking to social media to bash the individual behind the mask — identified by ESPN as Curtis Dvorak — for his poor lapse in judgment at making a joke out of what is a serious issue facing the world currently:

@BleacherReport you guys ( jaguars) have no shame. in due time. you will understand how serious #ebola is. #aimagainstEbola

— Julz Ghanamixtapes (@GhanaMixTapes) October 6, 2014

@BleacherReport ~ wrong at all cost....when you take the time to write it then you should have asked somebody how it would come across. — S. H. (@TrulySafe) October 6, 2014

Lamping's statement came Monday morning.

"Improvisation and humor have both been key elements to the character of Jaxson de Ville, especially when he performs at home games," Lamping said, according to USA Today. "On Sunday, the person who has played Jaxson DeVille over the past 20 seasons made an extremely poor decision in that regard. The team was unaware of this inappropriate sign, which was hand-made by Jaxson during the fourth quarter of yesterday's game, until after it had been displayed. We are handling the matter internally and taking it very seriously. We extend our sincerest apologies to anyone who was offended."