Associated Press
4/14/2005
ATLANTA (AP) - The NFL is trying to stop the spread of Ron Mexico.
Since that name was listed as an alias for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in a lawsuit filed last month, a number of people have gone to the NFL's online store to order Vick's No. 7 replica jersey with a personalized "MEXICO" on the back. Now, fans trying to order the customized jersey get this message: "The personalization entered cannot be accepted."
The alias was printed in court documents in a civil lawsuit filed March 14 that alleges Vick, infected the woman with herpes. Vick has said he will fight the charges.
Among the parties listed in the lawsuit is "Ron Mexico," which the plaintiff's lawyers claim Vick has used as a pseudonym. Vick's lawyer, Lawrence Woodward, did not immediately return repeated calls to his office this week.
The Falcons haven't commented on the case.
NFLShop.com, meanwhile, has added the pseudonym to its list of banned names, along with obscenities and others deemed improper.
"We did instruct our NFL Shop to not sell those jerseys," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. "The jerseys are intended for fans who want to have their name on a jersey. Obviously, this was in direct reference to recent events. We decided it's inappropriate to sell jerseys with that particular name on it."
NFLShop.com employees and supervisors were notified in an internal memo Monday that they were no longer allowed to sell Falcons jerseys with the Mexico name, customer service representatives said when asked about it.
The NFL would not provide a copy of the memo. McCarthy said "only a handful" of orders for the Mexico jerseys had been placed, and none were sold. Anyone who placed an order for the jersey will receive an e-mail letting them know the order has been cancelled and their money will be refunded.
A few "Ron Mexico" T-shirts have popped up on eBay, though none of the NFL's licensed replica jerseys have been sold or posted for sale on the internet auction site.
"If somebody bought a jersey during the time the NFL Shop was selling them, it's their item to buy or sell if they got it legitimately," eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said. "We would not pull the listing if it did not violate any other policies."
News of the made-up moniker has circulated on sports talk shows and websites.
"This is life. This is freedom of speech. You can't control what people say or do. As long as you control yourself and conduct yourself in a well-mannered way, that's all you can do," said Falcons safety Keion Carpenter.
Carpenter is Vick's best friend on the team and a business partner who helped the quarterback start his youth football camps.
A web site,
www.ronmexico.com, features a Ron Mexico T-shirt with Vick's image, his number and MEXICO, available for purchase at $16.07, and links to news articles about the lawsuit.
The owner of the site, a 30-year-old Chicago man who would not give his name, said it already has viewed at least 10,000 times and he has sold about 100 of the T-shirts.
"I don't want the site to represent a judgment on the case or Vick as a person," he said in a telephone interview. "It's making fun of the alleged porno name. The guy is an amazing player, so the nickname's going to stick with him regardless, one way or the other."
The attention has also thrust an unwilling Ron Mexico (not an alias) into the spotlight.
"I've been getting a ton of calls. People are asking me if I know him. I don't, of course," said Mexico, an auto parts supplier in Brighton, Mich.
"How do you pull a name like that out of the air? Use Bob Smith or Jim Johnson; there's 50 million of them. Out of all the names in the whole world, I wanna know how he picked this name out," Mexico wondered.
He said he only knows of two other Ron Mexicos - and he's related to both of them.
