Graffiti on McKelvin’s Lawn Revealed And, Yup, It’s Junk

On Tuesday, it was reported that Leodis McKelvin, the scapegoat for the latest Buffalo Bills meltdown, had his lawn vandalized by angry and spray paint-wielding fans. In response, there was the expected great hand-wringing by the sports commentariat on all sides and, indeed, NFL player home vandalism is an unfortunate, if not altogether new, phenomenon. Steelers fans did it to quarterback Tommy Maddox in 2005 after a particularly gruesome four-turnover game against Jacksonville. Cardinals fans burned various messages in the front lawn of the offseason home of Donovan McNabb the week of the NFC Championship Game earlier this year. So it’s been done.↵↵Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not another in a litany of reasons that athletes have to fear and protect themselves from the public. In the case of cheap vandalism, however, it’s almost always the work of dumb punk kids, and reports are showing that’s what happened in the McKelvin case. Police have apprehended two 16-year-olds who have told police they sprayed the final score of Monday night’s game (25-24, for those who don’t feel like checking) along with, ahem, “a graphic depiction of the male anatomy scrawled in white paint” at 2 a.m. Tuesday, just a few hours after the game ended.↵

↵↵In the vernacular of the American 16-year-old male, the graphic depiction of male anatomy can mean any number of things, but I’m thinking here that “Dude, you suck this thing that I’m writing on your lawn” is probably the message that is trying to be conveyed. Not much artistry, but we’re talking inexperienced vandals here. Even though McKelvin won’t press charges, the attention alone will probably keep them from trying to hone their craft in the future.↵

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