20 Tweets Sports Figures Immediately Regretted

Here is a story about an athlete: Player X posts a tweet, immediately regrets said tweet, deletes tweet and, finally, deals with out-of-proportion media backlash anyway.

Sports figures have a long history (er, as long as Twitter has existed) of ill-advised tweeting. Some make it a pattern—Does Rashard Mendenhall regret that Bin Laden business? Who knows—he has certainly never said he does.

Others only feel regret when the media blows up and their publicists tell them to. There are certainly plenty of those examples out there.

Today I’m talking about that lump-in-your-stomach, heart-stopping feeling of instant regret. You know the one. You’ve had it when you accidentally hit “Reply All” on a sassy retort to a coworker. You’ve had it when you watch your apartment door close shut in slow motion as you simultaneously realize your keys are still inside.

Twitter can be a dangerous place, folks. Tweets can happen too fast to take back, and before your little 140-character beast is even up on the Interwebs, you know you’ve made a catastrophic mistake.

Honorable Mention: Delta Airlines

Michael Steele/Getty Images

The tweeter in question here is not an actual sports figure, but there is no doubt about the immediacy of his or her regret.

According to myfoxboston.com, Delta Airlines issued an apology after posting a rather questionable congratulatory tweet to the U.S. men’s soccer team. The Americans had just defeated Ghana in their first World Cup game.

The tweet showed an image that suggested the Statue of Liberty as the symbol of the U.S. and a giraffe as the symbol of Ghana. 

Gotta keep a close eye on that social media team.

Honorable Mention: Matt Harvey

Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey wanted to let the world know just how he felt about his Tommy John surgery—he tweeted a photo of himself displaying a particular finger during rehab. 

This one is an honorable mention because Harvey claims he doesn’t regret the tweet.

According to the Daily News, however, the Mets did ask Harvey to remove the tweet—he did them one better by deleting his entire account.

Honorable Mention: Reggie Bush

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

Please make note of this Twittersphere: Nazi jokes are not funny. 

Reggie Bush realized this fact and deleted this tweet shortly after posting it in 2012.

He’s an honorable mention since instead of apologizing right away, he posted another tweet, according to NFL.com: “Oh goodness bunch of sensitive cry babies on twitter! It's just jokes people send me your address and I'll personally FedEx you some tissue.”

Doesn't exactly scream regret to me.

I don’t know what’s more disturbing, the joke itself or the fact that Reggie Bush used the phrase, “Oh goodness.”

20. Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons

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Here we have some non-malicious, yet still racially degrading Twitter action between friends and teammates.

Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons made a Panda Express joke to teammate Jeremy Lin, who replied, “lol good guess chandler ‘donald sterling’ parsons.” Both tweets were deleted.

Too soon? Yep, too soon.

19. Yasiel Puig and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Matt York/Associated Press

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Yasiel Puig apparently hung out recently during a rain delay at a Dodgers game.  

According to Fox Sports, Puig posted a photo to his Instagram account calling Earnhardt a “great rally racer,” which obviously, is inaccurate.

Puig immediately replaced the nickname with a new one—the “King in Nascar.”  All in good fun—do I smell a budding bromance?

18. Skip Bayless

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I sort of doubt that Skip Bayless ever regrets anything he says, but he’s not the one who tweeted this gem—he just said it on ESPN’s First Take.

The quote in question goes like this, "I’m totally against taking America-born white players in the first round of the draft."

Someone at ESPN decided this statement was worth blasting out in print, but the tweet was gone by the next day.

17. Desean Jackson Copy and Paste

Chris Pizzello/Associated Press

Proofreading is so important.

In 2012, Desean Jackson was asked to help promote an ESPYs pre-party sponsored by Nokia.

Unfortunately, Jackson forgot to check out the results of his copy and paste before hitting “Tweet"—He posted the entire request as opposed to just the promotion itself. 

I imagine the party planners were a little more remorseful than Jackson, but he deleted the tweet all the same.

16. Cardale Jones and College Academics

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

"Classes are POINTLESS." In one 2012 tweet, third-string Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones succinctly summarized one of the major concerns looming over big-time college football today.

Obviously, the tweet was quickly taken down and Jones’ account deleted entirely.

He also received a one-game suspension, according to The Columbus Dispatch, for the horrific offense of calling attention to a pretty legitimate elephant in the room.  

15. Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

Kevin Durant is no stranger to tweet regret.

He may be a little more sensitive than the rest of the jokers on this list though—tweeting and deleting fairly harmless basketball commentary.

Durant recently expressed an opinion on the prospect of Kawhi Leonard playing for the Pacers. According to Fox Sports, he quickly deleted the tweet and indicated that he’s sorry but not sorry.

14. Kevin Love Breaks the News

Noah Graham/Getty Images

Kevin McHale was the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2008-09 season. He did not return for the 2009-10 season.

The person who broke that news to the world was Kevin Love, via Twitter.

According to ESPN.com, Love later tweeted, “I had no idea no one knew.”

13. #AskNeal

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Team-solicited tweets with specific hashtags are a great tactic for fan engagement—except when it all goes horribly wrong.

Just #AskNeal.

James Neal of the Pittsburgh Penguins that is.

SI.com compiled a great list of some of the best of the worst tweets that ensued—most making mention of a recent incident that involved Neal’s knee and another player’s head.

I imagine the Penguins regretted that one pretty quickly.

12. NFL Replacement Refs

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Everyone remembers Golden Gate, the replacement ref debacle that led to a crucial win for the Seattle Seahawks in 2012—a win that should’ve been a loss.

Of the last play, the NFL’s Twitter account posted, “Touchdown or Interception?” The tweet was quickly deleted, but not before it got a little retweet action.

11. Mike Bacsik and the Spurs

Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images

Don’t drink and tweet—it’s a recipe for a.m. regret.

Former MLB pitcher and radio producer Mike Bacsik took to Twitter to express his displeasure with a San Antonio Spurs victory over the Dallas Mavericks in 2010.

His exact choice of characters: “Congrats to all the dirty Mexicans in San Antonio.”

He later apologized and said he was “drunk at a bar” when the tweet happened, as reported by The Dallas Morning News.

10. Carmelo Anthony and Kat Stacks

Ron Turenne/Getty Images

Usually when someone claims his Twitter account was hacked eight hours after a questionable post, there are two possible scenarios:

1. He was hacked.
2. He was not, but he deeply regrets his post and will go to great lengths to convince anyone who cares that he did not, in fact, write it.

I can’t say for sure which one happened in 2010 with Carmelo Anthony’s account. However, offering followers money to “slap the s--t” out of someone’s “pigeon ass face” sounds pretty regrettable to me.

9. #AskCommish

The Star-Ledger-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s a thought. If your league has a not-so-well-liked commissioner, maybe don’t invite the Twitterverse to ask him anything it wants?

The NFL likely regretted this choice after seeing a lot of the questions.

Roger Goodell took it on the chin with inquiries about several controversial topics including gay players, racial slurs and that mascot in Washington, D.C.

8. Troy Aikman's DM Fail

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Oh Troy Aikman. This divorcee might be in need of some dating tips.

For example, if you want to use a direct message to ask a woman out on Twitter (bad idea), make sure you know how to correctly send a direct message. 

Also make sure you know how to spell the woman’s name.

Somebody get this man a Tinder account.

7. Aly Raisman in Da Club

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Aly Raisman was 18 years old during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The young gymnast apparently wanted to get her party on one night.

What she didn’t count on was accidentally tweeting out her racy plans to thousands of Twitter followers.

Yikes. Hope her parents didn’t see it!

6. Redskins and Harry Reid

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Perhaps you’ve heard of a little controversy involving a Washington, D.C. NFL team and its mascot.

In May, the team in question implored its fanbase to voice support for the mascot via tweets to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Big shock. This did not go well. #Oops.

5. Matt Hasselbeck and Antonio Cromartie

Wade Payne/Associated Press

According to USA Today, Matt Hasselbeck suggested via Twitter back in 2011 that Antonio Cromartie might not know what CBA stands for—this in reference to comments made by Cromartie regarding the NFL and NFLPA.

Hasselbeck took the tweet down before anyone could get a screen shot, but Cromartie still heard about it and responded, “hey Matt if u have something to then say it be a man about it. Don't erase it. I will smash ur face in.”

Hasselbeck probably needed some new Hanes after that.

4. LA Kings Guest Tweeter

Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

So, I am all for throwing some wit and humor into your Twitter feed, even if—scratch that—especially if you represent a professional sports organization.

But some things are just never funny.

Guest tweeter Kevin Ryder, an L.A. radio host, blasted out this tweet referencing sexual assault, and the Kings quickly apologized.

3. Jim Boeheim's Retirement?

Rich Barnes/Getty Images

Jim Boeheim is an old dude. He’s been head coach of the Syracuse men’s basketball team for 38 years. It’s not foolish to think he might retire sometime soon.

It is foolish to tweet that he plans to, however, especially if he has made no such announcement. The errant tweet was promptly removed from the Syracuse University Twitter account.

This one was a big whoops.

2. Jaz Reynolds

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Jaz Reynolds, former Oklahoma wide receiver, was suspended indefinitely by the team after a really wrong tweet in 2010.

In response to an incident at the University of Texas at Austin in which a student took his own life, Reynolds tweeted, “Hey everyone in Austin, tx.......kill yourself,” according to ESPN.com.

Reynolds immediately deleted the tweet and asked his followers to disregard, but the damage had been done.

1. Darnell Dockett and Katherine Webb

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

During the 2013 BCS National Championship Game broadcast, the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron received more than her fair share of airtime.

Katherine Webb’s growing list of fans included Darnell Dockett of the Arizona Cardinals.

According to USA Today, Dockett tweeted to Webb, “hit me (240) xxx-xxxx when game over, lets go to wing stop then King of diamond.”

Methinks that Dockett blasting his phone number out to thousands of followers was not his actual intention. #InstantRegret.