“From A Hawk To A Pelican” – New Orleans Newspaper Drops A “Hawk Tuah” Pun In Their Headline Celebrating Dejounte Murray Trade

Move over, New York Post . Y'all will never beat this one (at least for today). The "hawk tuah" meme has gone mega viral lately, to the point where the girl who originated it is being recruited by top Hollywood talent agencies . In a plot twist that proves newspapers are neither antiquated, out of touch with modern society, nor 100% dead, The Times-Picayune in New Orleans got in on the "hawk tuah" fun by posting the following headline when the Pelicans acquired All-Star guard Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks: https://twitter.com/JonoBarnes/status/1806904951957799108 F**k yeah. Brilliant. No notes. You can't go full "hawk tuah." The Times-Picayune knew this. They opted for the homophone approach to get their point across with 100% clarity. However, they were still family friendly enough for whichever dwindling number of young, aspiring sports media kids crack open the sports page these days. I don't know if people are necessarily "sleeping" on this trade and what it means for the Pelicans, but it's worth noting just what a bargain Murray is compared to some of the splashy moves to hit the NBA transaction wire in recent days. https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1806683732772045102 https://twitter.com/jtylerconway/status/1806821824912900249 Murray is an excellent two-way player who facilitates well, creates his own shot, plays off the ball effectively, and excels as a perimeter defender. The Pels already have the likes of Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum as cornerstones to build around. Additionally, center Jonas Valanciunas is a free agent, while Brandon Ingram is entering a contract year and faces a somewhat murky future. Woj reports that Ingram prefers to stay but that a trade may be inevitable because of how costly BI's next contract will be. https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1807033218618573267 If New Orleans can convince Ingram and Valancinuas to stay for at least one big push this coming season, Murray's arrival could be the X-factor that makes the Pelicans a legitimate threat in the already-stacked Western Conference. So that's the basketball side of it in a nutshell. What I'll always remember from this trade is the headline artists at The Times-Picayune for boldly treading on the hallowed "hawk tuah" ground and sticking the landing. There's probably more of an innuendo joke to be mined there but we gotta save some saliva to make this thing last. No but really, let's pace ourselves. It's only a matter of time before the Miami Dolphins dish out a massive contract extension for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. By the time the discourse on that deal ends, the vast majority of fans might put a subconscious "Hawk" in front of Tua's actual first name till the end of time. At least if that comes to pass, it'll take some heat off Tua as far as the conversation around whether he should be paid top-market value.