People don’t like how UFC star Conor McGregor throws a football

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UFC star Conor McGregor on the sideline before an NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Arlington, Texas. (Jim Cowsert/AP)

Just because you can throw a punch (or an energy drink at a press conference) doesn’t mean you can throw a football.

Conor McGregor was a guest of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones Sunday at AT&T Stadium for their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Prior to kickoff, the UFC superstar was on the field signing autographs, meeting fans and players, and he also tossed around the pigskin for a bit.

Suffice it to say McGregor’s technique was far from textbook. He throws off his back foot, fingers not on the laces, questionable wrist action on the follow-through.

The ball travelled about 25 yards and reached its intended target but the internet quickly chimed in once a slow-motion replay of McGregor’s toss began making the rounds.

McGregor has no qualms about dishing out trash talk and, fair play to him, he can laugh it off when he’s on the receiving end.

“Hahaha yous’r [expletive] ruthless on this side,” McGregor wrote in an Instagram post in which he reposted one of the memes he saw. “I just didn’t want to rip my custom @augustmcgregor baby blue billionaire blazer. That was all, y’all. Great job to the Cowboys today!”

If anything, McGregor served as a good luck charm for a Cowboys team that had gone 2-3 to open the season and was averaging just 16.2 points per game. Dallas blew out a staunch Jaguars defence to the tune of 40-7. Perhaps McGregor being a guest served as some motivation for the Cowboys players.

Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott even celebrated touchdowns by doing the “billionaire strut” McGreogr is now synonymous with.

One more thing of note from McGregor’s visit was the loquacious Irishman saying he’d love to fight inside AT&T Stadium one day.

AT&T Stadium’s capacity for a mixed martial arts event could potentially approach 100,000. UFC president Dana White has said many times over the years that he hopes to one day bring a live event to the venue.

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