Puka Nakoa’s social media referee tested Ramez’s patience. Lesson learned?

SEATTLE — Buka Nakoa promised that he would learn from his mistakes, but his pledge was not convincing.

His words were hasty. What he said barely made any sense.

And there was this: Thursday night, after two days of criticizing referees on live stream, Nacua posted a sarcastic message about officials following the Rams’ 38-37 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field.

“Can you say I was wrong,” he wrote on X. “Appreciate your lines for your contribution. LOL.”

The post was quickly deleted. Questions about Nakoa’s ruling remained.

Nacua, 24, is on track for a big contract extension next offseason, with the Rams looking to the record-breaking receiver as a cornerstone. But here he was repeating the mistake he made just two days ago, which cannot be what any team wants from their most popular player.

Are the Rams about to entrust him with the responsibility of highlighting their virtues?

Ironically, the most controversial aspect of his recent live appearance is the most defensible. Hours before the Rams played the Seahawks, Nacua offered an explanation for the anti-Semitic gesture he made on The Adin Ross Show and N3on.

“At the time, I had no idea that this act was inherently anti-Semitic and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people,” Nakoa wrote on Instagram.

The story was believable. Offensive hand motions were part of the touchdown celebration, and Ross encouraged Nacua to perform if he scored against the Seahawks.

Ross is Jewish. Earlier in the live broadcast, he wished his viewers a happy Hanukkah, prompting Nacua to share that he had accepted a friend’s invitation to attend Shabbat last week.

When Nacua learned of the partying tone he was having with Ross, he apologized. He got into the end zone twice Thursday and didn’t do the dance either time.

“I know the heart of this man, and I feel very sorry for anyone who was offended,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “I know he feels the exact same way.”

The guess here is that he won’t make this gesture again.

What is less certain is whether Nacua will be able to continue building his personal brand without becoming a distraction to his team.

The Rams should be worried.

Within a short week, the Rams were forced to ban Ross and N3on from their building.

Later that afternoon, the most visible player joined the streamers in their car and traveled to a club, where he claimed the referees had deliberately made the obscene calls because they wanted a TV broadcast.

This is a brave new world for athletes and the teams that employ them. Younger audiences want their heroes to be outgoing, whether they are athletes or artists. For stars like Nakoa, the challenge is balancing accessibility with protection for their teams.

Nacua failed to do so this week.

“Coach (McVay) just reiterated that he always has my back, and he’s disappointed in some of my teammates’ distracting behavior and that’s something I know I’ll learn from and I don’t want to be a distraction any week, especially a short week, so we talked about that and he’s right there behind me,” Nacua said.

However, Nacua expressed his displeasure with the referees again on Thursday, texting X minutes after the Seahawks won the game by scoring a two-point conversion goal in overtime.

Nacua said what inspired the message was “just a moment of frustration after a tough, intense game like that, just thinking about the chances I could have done better to take it out of their hands.”

Whatever that means.

McVay declined to comment on Nacua’s post, saying he was first made aware of his existence when asked about it in his post-match press conference.

“I have to get more information before I answer any of these questions,” McVay said.

However, McVay said of Nacua’s comments about referees on the live broadcast: “Yes, we don’t want to do that.”

Asking McVay about an unpleasant topic in the wake of the crushing defeat left him feeling anxious. Asked if the fallout from Nacua’s live broadcast was a distraction, McVay responded: “Do you think his play showed he was distracted?”

Nacua caught 12 passes for 225 yards.

But McVeigh caught himself and apologized.

“I love this team,” he said. “And man, when you give as much as our group does and care so much about something and you fail at it, it’s incredibly disappointing.”

This presence of mind explains why McVay is the voice of the Rams. As competitive as he is, as competitive as he can be, he knows how to keep his momentum from compromising his team’s long-term goals.

Nacua has to figure out how to do this. By next season, he won’t be an underpaid star under his original contract. He will have a deal that reflects his status as a player, and with that comes responsibility. Recent days have raised questions about whether he is capable of doing so.