Dallas Cowboys' running back Ezekiel Elliott on Monday threatened to sue Sports Illustrated magazine for running a column headlined, "Ezekiel Elliott Forgets to Log Off, Admits to Being High on Twitch: Traina Thoughts."

The column was written by sports media columnist Jimmy Traina, who reacted to a video that went viral last Monday, where Elliott said he was "low-key faded," a slang term that can be related to being under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana.

What Did He Mean by "Faded"?

"Actually I was referring to the few drinks I had which I said during the live stream." Elliott tweeted Sports Illustrated Monday.

On Sunday night, Elliott forgot to log off from the popular video game streaming platform, in which time he made the "faded" comment, reported New York Post.

"Bro, I'm low-key faded," the football player said, turning away from the computer. Moments later, he looked at the screen and realized he didn't end the stream yet.

Elliott Wasn't Happy With Sports Illustrated

Elliott had problems with the article, said sports news site Sportsnaut.

The 24-year-old football player even threatened legal action, "Doesn't that make this defamation? You guys will [be] hearing from my lawyers @SInow," he wrote.

He went after the magazine in a series of tweets, stunned at how the article was written. "I expect that from little gossip site but Sports Illustrated? REALLY?" he wrote.

Fox News noted that the magazine removed the story after Elliott's backlack while Traina also deleted a tweet pointing towards the story.

The column resurfaced on Monday with a correction explaining Elliott's response to the original story, "A previous version of this story included a headline with an incorrect interpretation of Elliott's meaning of "faded."".

The magazine apologized and expressed regret over the incident. New York Post pressed Sports Illustrated for comment on the athlete's tweets, but the magazine declined to comment.

As of late Monday, Elliott had not yet responded to the media outlet's statement. Traina, on the other hand, did not immediately respond to the Post's request for comment.

It can be noted that while Traina did not specifically write about Elliott being under the influence of drugs, he did write the article as such, "After wearing a mask and social distancing, the most important thing in life to remember is to always make sure you are logged off before you start riffing," an obvious reference to smoking weed.

In 2019, the media company Maven acquired publishing rights to the sports magazine.

The Dallas Cowboys' running back has no history of getting punished by the National Football League for its substance abuse policy. He was, however, criticized during his rookie season in 2016 when he was spotted at a marijuana dispensary in Seattle before a preseason game.

Elliott told reporters at the time that it was a "bad decision", saying he went in and didn't think about the repercussion.

"It wasn't like I was trying to hide it or anything. I took pictures with people. It wasn't like I was up to no good," he said.

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