Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy’s double-bird salute on Saturday against Virginia Tech wasn’t meant for the fans, but he’ll face some sort of discipline “internally” for the gesture.
Head coach Manny Diaz told reporters that would be the case after ACC Network caught Murphy putting up his middle fingers after completing an 86-yard touchdown pass to Eli Pancol on the Blue Devils’ first offensive play of the night against the Hokies.
He then flashed his middle fingers in the direction of the ACC Net cameras, which Diaz described as “unacceptable in our program.”
The game had been played at Duke’s home of Wallace Wade Stadium.
But the gesture was not meant toward the fans or the broadcast, rather it was at offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer up in the coach’s booth that was a reference to a bit of banter in practice.
“There was a practice in the middle of last week when we [were] throwing post after post after post, and we weren’t completing them,” Diaz said, according to the Associated Press. “And it was again and again and again and again. And at the end of that, there was a remark made in jest that, ‘If you throw a post for a touchdown in the game, then you can flick me off,’ from Coach Brewer.”
Brewer told reporters that the joke was never supposed to get to the actual playing field.
“Some things you say on the field when you’re coaching obviously isn’t meant to be taken literally when you’re trying to get after somebody in that world,” Brewer said.
Murphy threw for 332 yards and completed three touchdown passes for the Blue Devils.
He did throw three interceptions in what ended as a 31-28 win for Duke.
The Blue Devils are 8-3 on the season and 4-3 in ACC play.