George Floyd’s funeral featured photo of ex-Jets player during montage
George Floyd’s funeral mistakenly featured a photo of the wrong man during a montage celebrating his life — showing a living ex-New York Jets player with the same name.
Former Gang Green defensive back George Floyd was projected onto the screen this week during the Houston, Texas, funeral of the 46-year-old Minneapolis man whose death in police custody has sparked international protests.
The 59-year-old retired athlete played for two seasons for the Jets in 1982 and 1984, according to the National Football League.
The mix-up came as hundreds of mourners, including Floyd’s family, packed into the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston, wearing all white for the hours-long memorial service.
The Fort Bend Memorial Planning Center, which organized the funeral, didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
The BBC aired the incorrect photo during its coverage of the service.
“George Floyd was remembered as a champion basketball and football player,” the broadcaster reported Monday, before airing the image of the ex-Jets player in uniform.
The BBC admitted Wednesday that it grabbed the image for its report after it was broadcast during the service.
“During our report on George Floyd’s funeral last night, we showed images from a montage of still photographs which had been played as part of his funeral service,” a BBC spokesperson told The Post. “One of the photos we used, which we had taken directly from this montage, depicted the New York Jets player George Floyd. ”
“We don’t know why that particular image was used in the service, but we subsequently used it as part of our own coverage of the service,” the broadcaster continued. “We’re still looking into exactly what happened. The BBC would never seek to cause any offense.”