16 Times That Players Needed to Log Off
The Internet is a dangerous place. Social media sites in particular make it easy for high-profile athletes to publicly say something they might regret, embarrass themselves or, worst of all, offend someone.
Social media does provide an excellent forum for athlete communication and accessibility, but it should be used carefully. Ill-advised virtual feuds and hastily composed tweets that quickly disappear—these don't belong on the Interwebs.
There are a lot of examples of poor digital behavior out there, and the following 16 are merely a sampling. They illustrate varying degrees of egregiousness, but all were out of line.
Richard Sherman
1 of 16
Athletes should definitely log off instead of engaging in ridiculous Twitter beefs with other athletes—cough, J.R. Smith, cough.
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman also comes to mind. He has engaged in ongoing feuds with fellow cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Darrelle Revis. No one said anything particularly awful since the tweets were mostly limited to trash talk regarding football. Still, do your talking on the field.
David Price
2 of 16
Losing is tough, especially in the playoffs. Emotions run high, so right after you got rocked for seven runs in the American League Division Series is probably not the best time to log into your Twitter account. And it's definitely not the time for bragging.
In 2013, David Price, then with the Tampa Bay Rays, had a rough outing against the Boston Red Sox but afterward tweeted, "Trust me I don't want sympathy...I got beat tonight...so be it..I'll bounce back...3x ALLSTAR...2 time player choice...runner up cy...AND CY," according to Mike Cole of NESN.
Price also engaged with a few Twitter trolls, which is never a good idea in general.
Krys Barch
3 of 16
This one goes back to 2012, but it's worth mentioning. During the NHL lockout, Krys Barch, then with the New Jersey Devils, posted a few dozen tweets expressing his feelings on the league's labor issues.
You can read the whole thing on Puck Daddy, courtesy of Greg Wyshynski, but essentially, Barch was not happy with the perceived greed of ownership. He had valid points, but he also tweeted that he was drinking during the rant.
It's great when players take an active interest in collective bargaining, but Barch should have logged off and perhaps used a better medium to voice his opinions.
Adrian Peterson
4 of 16
Anything that could be described as a "Twitter rant" is probably not a good idea for high-profile sports figures—especially one who has dealt with his share of controversy.
In May, Adrian Peterson unleashed on Twitter about contract talks with the Minnesota Vikings. His frustration appeared to be regarding the nature of non-guaranteed contracts—that teams can release players, but players cannot likewise opt out of their contracts anytime they like.
One tweet read, "I know hundreds of player's that wished their team would've HONORED the contract! But instead got threw to the side like like trash."
Not long after the rant, Peterson clarified his feelings, tweeting that his anger was directed toward the players' union as opposed to the Vikings. Either way, it would've been better to just keep contract matters private.
Bobby Portis
5 of 16
You never know when a long-forgotten tweet will come back to bite you. That's why social media is so dangerous—something that seems relatively harmless at the time could eventually become a disaster.
Shortly after Bobby Portis was drafted by the Chicago Bulls at No. 22 overall, some of his old tweets resurfaced. Let's just say his new teammates might not be thrilled. According to Jordan Greer of Sporting News, one tweet read, "Pau Gasol not as good as everybody think/say!" And worse, another read in part, "Fxck D Rose and tha Bulls! #teamHeat over here."
Portis has since deleted the tweets and apologized. But seriously, if you have realistic aspirations of playing in the NBA one day, maybe just don't ever post negative tweets about the pros.
Larry Nance Jr.
6 of 16
Not only can tweets come back to bite you, but it's never a good idea to include "#rapist" in a tweet. Newly minted Los Angeles Laker Larry Nance Jr. found that out the hard way when an old tweet surfaced shortly after the NBA draft.
In 2012, Nance tweeted, "Gee I sure hope Kobe can keep his hands to himself in Denver this time.. #rapist." This was in poor taste anyway, but it turned into a real problem when Kobe Bryant's team drafted Nance.
According to Nick Schwartz of USA Today, Nance deleted the tweet and apologized to Bryant, who called the whole thing "water under the bridge."
Garrick Sherman
7 of 16
Much like Krys Barch, Garrick Sherman should probably refrain from using the Internet while intoxicated. Sherman, a former collegiate basketball player at both Michigan State and Notre Dame, continued after college to play basketball overseas.
Apparently dismayed by his team's season coming to an end in May, Sherman took to Twitter to air some grievances. Topics (and targets) at hand included the NCAA, claims of drug use among student athletes and Tom Izzo.
That type of tirade is never a good look. Sherman later tweeted, "Yes I know my tweets have been more risque than usual. Our season ended today so I may or may not have consumed some alcohol," according to Kevin Draper of Deadspin (warning: foul language).
Kris Humphries
8 of 16
Before Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair covered was revealed, she told Diane Sawyer on 20/20, "I am a woman." Hours after that interview aired, Kris Humpries (aka the ex-Mr. Kim Kardashian), tweeted, "Man, I'm glad I got out when I did. #Gottadoyou," according to Connor Muldowney of Fansided.
Kardashian is, of course, Jenner's stepdaughter, and the NBA forward was in the family for a hot second while married to her. He later apologized for how the tweet came across, but seriously, Kris, be smarter.
UTSA Athlete to Michelle Beadle
9 of 16
This one is just confusing because really, who would think this is a good idea? Christian Carillo, apparently. Carillo, a tennis player at the University of Texas-San Antonio, called ESPN broadcaster Michelle Beadle a "slut" on Twitter recently.
Beadle responded by bringing the school—of which she is an alum—into the fray, and it responded swiftly and with sincere apology. Carillo deleted his Twitter account.
Bloomsburg Athlete About Mo'ne Davis
10 of 16
As we saw with the tweet about Michelle Beadle, no one should use Twitter to disrespect someone else.
In this instance, another collegiate athlete—Joey Casselberry of Bloomsburg University—posted an insensitive response to the news about a Disney movie inspired by Mo'ne Davis. The tweet was extremely offensive, particularly since Davis is a teenager. It was along the same lines as the tweet to Beadle.
In response, the university dismissed Casselberry from the baseball team.
Colin Kaepernick
11 of 16
Massive storms and flooding in Houston caused at least eight fatalities in May. Amid the turmoil, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick tweeted, "I warned you the (hash)7torms Coming !!! (hash)Houston," according to CBSSports.com.
Kaepernick wears No. 7, and the 49ers are scheduled to play a preseason game in Houston. Obviously, the serious nature of the situation didn't warrant football-related trash talk, and the quarterback apologized after predictable backlash.
LeSean McCoy
12 of 16
Another time athletes should definitely log off is when they're having a disagreement with a baby mama.
LeSean McCoy misspelled a word in a tweet in 2013, and it set off some serious fireworks with the mother of his son. It got pretty nasty for both of them—McCoy called her "worthless," and she retaliated with almost every insult in the book, according to Simon Samano of USA Today.
Most of it was NSFW, meaning both of them definitely should've logged off. McCoy did afterward, deleting his Twitter account.
Mike Wallace
13 of 16
NBA center Jason Collins came out in 2013, becoming the first openly gay player in the NBA.
NFL wide receiver Mike Wallace tweeted, "All these beautiful women in the world guys wanna mess with other guys SMH…," according to Donald Wood, a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Wallace later apologized, and his then-team, the Miami Dolphins, issued a statement as well.
Paul George
14 of 16
Sometimes, sensitive and controversial issues arise in sports, and when that happens, it's often better to be safe than sorry when it comes to public commentary.
Needless to say, when a video of Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancee was released to the public, outrage was a common sentiment.
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George was one of the few people to come to Rice's defense, tweeting, according to Brian Robb of Boston.com: "I don't condone hittin women or think it's coo BUT if SHE ain't trippin then I ain't trippin.. Lets keep it movin lol let that man play!"
Right...maybe just keep that kind of thing to yourself? George later deleted the tweet and apologized.
Darnell Dockett
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In June 2014, NFL defensive end Darnell Dockett took to social media to voice an opinion regarding marriage. According to TheSource.com (warning: foul language), the tweet read: "When you get married and s--t don't work out... She want 1/2 'HALF' and see that's where I have a issue.. I don't blame OJ nevermind. Ttyl."
If this was a reference to O.J. Simpson's murder trial, as it appeared to be, then it was all kinds of wrong. Dockett didn't exactly apologize, but he did delete the tweet because "y'all would take what I said wrong and I don't feel like explaining where I'm coming from..."
Since a racist tweet from Dockett wasn't particularly well-received in 2013, it seems like he should've known better and just logged off.
Josh Robinson
16 of 16
After the Supreme Court's landmark decision regarding marriage equality, a lot of people were shouting #LoveWins from the rooftops—but not Josh Robinson. When the Minnesota Vikings cornerback tweeted his reaction to the news, he appeared to liken same-sex marriage to pedophilia.
No surprise here: He later apologized. According to Jordan Greer of Sporting News, Robinson said, "In an attempt to express my beliefs, I created some confusion with my choice of words, and for that I apologize. I do not equate the Supreme Court's decision on marriage equality with other social issues. There are obvious differences."
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