*Rashard Mendenhall on Wednesday posted a blog entry apologizing for and trying to clarify his controversial tweets regarding Osama bin Laden’s death, reports ESPN.
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back made headlines with comments posted on his Twitter page Monday after news of bin Laden’s death broke.
“What kind of person celebrates death?” he wrote. “It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…”
He tried to clarify those comments Wednesday.
“This controversial statement was something I said in response to the amount of joy I saw in the event of a murder. I don’t believe that this is an issue of politics or American pride; but one of religion, morality, and human ethics,” he wrote.
After quoting a bible verse, he wrote: “I wasn’t questioning Bin Laden’s evil acts. I believe that he will have to face God for what he has done. I was reflecting on our own hypocrisy. During 9/11 we watched in horror as parts of the world celebrated death on our soil. Earlier this week, parts of the world watched us in horror celebrating a man’s death.”
He apologized later in the posting and said he was just trying to “generate conversation.”
“I apologize for the timing as such a sensitive matter, but it was not meant to do harm,” he wrote. “I apologize to anyone I unintentionally harmed with anything that I said, or any hurtful interpretation that was made and put in my name.
“It was only meant to encourage anyone reading it to think.”
Mendenhall on Monday also posted a tweet making a reference to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style,” he tweeted.
Mendenhall has since deleted the 9/11-related tweet. He didn’t address the tweet or its deletion in his blog posting Wednesday.
As previously reported, Steelers president Art Rooney II on Tuesday released a statement regarding Mendenhall’s tweets.
“I have not spoken with Rashard, so it is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments. The entire Steelers organization is very proud of the job our military personnel have done and we can only hope this leads to our troops coming home soon.”
On Wednesday, Mendenhall wrote that he in no way supports bin Laden or is “against the USA.”
“I understand how devastating 9/11 was to this country and to the people whose families were affected. Not just in the US, but families all over the world who had relatives in the World Trade Centers. My heart goes out to the troops who fight for our freedoms everyday, not being certain if they will have the opportunity to return home, and the families who watch their loved ones bravely go off to war.”
As a result of the controversy, Mendenhall saw a spike in his followers on Twitter. On Tuesday afternoon, he had 13,631. On Wednesday afternoon, he had 36,914.
dumb azz
I don’t see what he said that was so bad and warranted him to apologize for *shrugs*
Actually, he is not apologizing. He is putting it in context, making it even more difficult for the hypocrites
to hate on him.
“During 9/11 we watched in horror as parts of the world celebrated death on our soil. Earlier this week, parts of the world watched us in horror celebrating a man’s death.”
this is the apology i’m talking about —> “I apologize for the timing as such a sensitive matter, but it was not meant to do harm,” he wrote. “I apologize to anyone I unintentionally harmed with anything that I said, or any hurtful interpretation that was made and put in my name.”….to me this was not necessary because he didn’t say anything that was harmful or hurtful.
There is such a bandwagon mentality in this country. It’s really sad that when someone says something that is totally relevant and logical, but goes against the grain of the popular sentiment of the moment they are written off as inappropriate.
ITA with Snicker, there was nothing wrong with what he said and he did not need apolgize for anything. But I’m sure that he was “persuaded” to apolpogize. At least he handled it diplomatically.
I understood and agreed with most of what he initially said (and not just because I’m a lifelong Steelers fan…). It was thought-provoking, if maybe a little ill-timed. I think America as a whole has a very difficult time looking at itself in the mirror…
On the flip side, people in general, but celebrities in particular, have got to stop trying to use Twitter to “get deep”. It has never been and will never be an outlet for that type of dialog. It’s 140 characters – hardly a medium to express yourself in any profound way. It’s essentially a soundbite, and we all know how those can get taken out of context and twisted. The better move for Rashard would have been to put together an opinion piece and display his FULL thoughts on a personal webpage or in one of the national papers. Save Twitter for shout-outs and “where-I-am’s”; leave the deep stuff for more coherent outlets.