Jamal Anderson's Named Unknowingly Used as Part of Video Game Hoax on Kickstarter

Jamal Anderson’s Named Unknowingly Used as Part of Video Game Hoax on Kickstarter

by NESN Staff on Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 10:04PM

Does anyone remember Jamal Anderson? Yeah, that’s right, the former Atlanta Falcons running back — and current CNN sports analyst — whose “Dirty Bird” dance made it all the way to Super Bowl XXXIII.

Well, apparently some scam artists on Kickstarter remember Anderson, too.

If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter.com, it’s basically a place to beg for free money for whatever kind of project you want to work on. Typically people post their projects to the website and provide prizes in return for donations to their cause. Lindsay Lohan‘s newest movie, The Canyons, was funded through the website and is an example of a successful project.

Well, four days ago, a Kickstarter campaign posted by “Dirty Bird Sports” popped up on the site, and it promised a lot of big ideas. In effect, Dirty Bird Sports said they wanted to create a video game to rival the current EA Sports NCAA Football franchise, with access to all college football teams and top-shelf graphics. Anderson was said to be a “co-owner” and a dinner with him was offered as one of the prizes for donation.

The campaign has since been cancelled, but as of its shutdown it had raised a meager $685 of the $500,000 it was asking for. Well, Deadspin’s on a roll, because they proved this was a hoax, too.

Deadspin contacted Anderson, who said he had no connection with, nor had ever heard of Dirty Bird Sports. They also showed that the graphics used on the Kickstarter page were lifted from freelance artists on the web.

As of now the person or persons behind the fake campaign have yet to be identified. However, a good bet would be that, somehow, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is behind this one, too.

Photo via Facebook/Jamal Anderson

Photo of the Night

This is a meeting of the bulldog mascots of Butler and Georgia, and it is absolutely adorable.

Photo via Twitter/@zmwang

Quote of the Night

“When I first played with Kobe — they call him the Black Mamba — but then he was doing like a little snake sound when he wanted the ball. It was crazy. It was crazy. It’s like tsssss, tsssss. Like fishing. Tsssss, tssss. He do that. Everybody tells you he’s gonna do it before you play him — like, ‘Wait till you hear him do this.’ And then he [does] it, and it’s like, what? He’s really a mamba. It sounds like some kind of snake.”
–Wizards guard Jordan Crawford further proving that Kobe Bryant is a bizarre dude