So another athlete puts himself at the center of a national controversy. Then he apologizes about it. Wow, what a surprise. In case you missed it, this past Monday, Rashard Mendenhall tweeted what appeared to be some righteous indignation about thousands of people celebrating the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by U.S Special Forces in Pakistan. "What kind of person celebrates death?" he tweeted. "It's amazing how people can HATE a man they never heard speak. We've only heard one side...." He went on to add that "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."
Now, I don't know anything about Mendenhall other than what he's done on the field. I don't believe he's made any controversial remarks in the past and he certainly is entitled to his opinion. But really, he made the comments and he should stand by them. What I find troubling about all this is that, today, only two days after making those comments, Mendenhall felt compelled to clarify them. It begs the questions, didn't he diligently review his own comments before he released them to the general public in the first place? Certainly, I don't think his comments needed any clarification. It's quite clear to me what he said as I'm sure it was clear to all of us. That's why the controversy. There was no ambiguity or misunderstanding among the general public.
Now to put things in some perspective Rashard Mendenhall is a very young man and often young people make mistakes. Having said that, Mendenhall is also a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a highly visible person in the Pittsburgh community. His celebrity is tied to the Steelers and he should understand that he has a responsibility to measure his remarks carefully before releasing them to the public. Accordingly, Mendenhall must be held accountable for any reaction his comments may have caused. But I would also argue that social media platforms like Twitter played as much a role in this controversy as the comments themselves. Case in point, his Twitter account indicates he has approximately 14,000 people following him. That's almost enough people to fill a sports arena. I'm just wondering would he have been so bold to make these remarks if knew he had to walk out on stage in front of these same 14,000 people at the CONSOL Energy Center as opposed to just pushing a few buttons on his Blackberry from the comfort of his living room? To me, Twitter is like playing with matches. You start a fire you can't put out, you get burned.
Now to put things in some perspective Rashard Mendenhall is a very young man and often young people make mistakes. Having said that, Mendenhall is also a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a highly visible person in the Pittsburgh community. His celebrity is tied to the Steelers and he should understand that he has a responsibility to measure his remarks carefully before releasing them to the public. Accordingly, Mendenhall must be held accountable for any reaction his comments may have caused. But I would also argue that social media platforms like Twitter played as much a role in this controversy as the comments themselves. Case in point, his Twitter account indicates he has approximately 14,000 people following him. That's almost enough people to fill a sports arena. I'm just wondering would he have been so bold to make these remarks if knew he had to walk out on stage in front of these same 14,000 people at the CONSOL Energy Center as opposed to just pushing a few buttons on his Blackberry from the comfort of his living room? To me, Twitter is like playing with matches. You start a fire you can't put out, you get burned.
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