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It’s still not entirely clear why the Indianapolis Colts suspended Isaiah McKenzie for the remainder of the regular season last month, but the wide receiver has claimed it had nothing to do with a rumor concerning a bald eagle that’s made the rounds online.
McKenzie was signed by the Colts during the offseason after he was released by the Bills to bring a five-year stint in Buffalo to an end. He appeared in 10 games for Indianapolis this season, but he didn’t exactly light things up with his new team while hauling in just 11 receptions for a grand total of 82 yards.
Shortly before Christmas, the Colts announced they were suspending the wideout (along with CB Tony Brown) for three games due to “conduct detrimental to the team.” The two men could theoretically return for the playoffs, although their squad will need to beat the Texans on Saturday in order to punch its ticket to the postseason.
NFL franchises aren’t required to provide a specific explanation when they decide to suspend a player, but they’re just asking for people to run with rumors if they don’t decide to offer transparency—which is exactly what happened here.
Shortly after the suspensions were announced, plenty of fans latched onto an unsubstantiated theory that asserted McKenzie and Brown had illegally killed a bald eagle while hunting (the father of Colts safety Rodney Thomas II was arrested for that particular crime earlier this year, but there was no hard evidence to suggest anyone else on the team had done the same).
On Monday, McKenzie decided to kick off the new year by hopping on social media to address the rumor by firmly stating “I did not kill a bald eagle.”
It’s 2024 so let start fresh first things first i did not kill a bald eagle that story is false.
— Isaiah McKenzie (@_IsaiahMcKenzie) January 1, 2024
He still hasn’t provided any real insight into what led to his suspension, but it seems like we can cross the slaying of a protected bird off the list of possibilities.