Patrice Evra accepts he went "too far" in a social media video where he played with a raw chicken, but has defended his bizarre Thanksgiving message.
Former Manchester United and Juventus defender Evra went viral on Tuesday when he posted a video on Instagram where he caressed and fondled the poultry, at one point putting the raw meat in his mouth.
Over 1.7 million people have so far viewed the clip, during which Evra shouts his catchphrase "I love this game", but he was widely slammed for his latest antics.
Some concerned onlookers noted he was risking food poisoning by getting up close and personal with the raw meat, but Evra shrugged off the criticism in a rebuttal he posted on Instagram on Wednesday.
"Yo! I made a video yesterday and it went crazy, it went wild," Evra said in his latest video.
"It was just for Thanksgiving. Some people find it funny, some people find it weird, some people find it disgusting. We are all different, thank God.
"I just cuddled, I just kissed the meat. That's it. Yeah, I went too far when I sucked the toes of the chicken... it was a little bit nasty, nasty.
"But come on. Now people wish me the salmonella - I know salmon. But apparently salmonella is a girl when she kiss you, you can die straight away or you can have diarrhoea for 10 years."
In a follow-up to the initial Instagram video Evra responded to criticism from vegan activists, who he accused of "eating all the grass in my garden", adding: "So please, stop being boring."
And Evra doubled down in his latest video.
"About the vegan people, I see vegan people in my garden crawling, eating all the grass and I don't say anything," the former France left-back said.
"Even sometimes they have a bell like the cow, ding ding ding, they eat everything - the flowers, the grass. Even the trees now. We need the trees. I love this game!"
