13 Teams and Players Who Fought Back Against the Trolls

If you're going to troll a professional sports franchise or high-profile athlete, you'd better be ready for the consequences. These teams and players fought back against the Internet spewage, and in one way or another, it wasn't pretty for the trolls.

It's important to note these teams and individuals did not initiate the negative contact. In plain terms, they didn't start it. This is not trolling for the sake of trolling. No, this is fighting back against social media attacks. Responses displaying cleverness and maturity earn extra points (as opposed to profanity or personal attacks). For the sake of freshness, we'll keep it relatively recent and stick with the best responses.

Dallas Keuchel

This idea of sports fans promising victory in advance of big games continues to be perplexing. Take one New York Yankees fan, for instance. Before the American League Wild Card Game, he trolled Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel, tweeting, "Sorry you and the Stros have to lose to the legendary NY Yankees, better luck next year."

As you probably know, the Yankees lost. And unfortunately for one Bill Smith, Keuchel remembered his tweet.

J.J. Watt

In June, someone told Pro Bowl defensive end J.J. Watt he is "not a 5 star." According to Bleacher Report featured columnist Thomas Duffy, this was in reference to the "news" that Watt was a two-star recruit out of high school. Watt's response was perfect.  

Phoenix Suns

In February, someone tweeted at the Phoenix Suns ahead of a game urging them to "not play like females." The team's social media person handled it brilliantly.

Petr Cech

Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech played for Chelsea until he lost his starting spot to Thibaut Courtois and now plays for Arsenal. Around the time of his benching, a Twitter troll gave Cech a hard time about it, only to be served with a tactful, yet on-point, response.

New York Mets

Which MLB team owns New York? The answer is up for debate, but the New York Mets are certainly better at Internet rebuttals.

The official Mets Twitter account posted a harmless score update during an April game against the rival New York Yankees, referring to the Yanks simply as "NY (AL)." The Yankees responded with, "Yankees. We are the YANKEES." Sheesh! Alright.

The Mets fought back with this beauty:

Chicago Cubs

The Mets' NLCS opponent, the Chicago Cubs, also has some chops in the social media department. In March, ESPN reporter Darren Rovell tweeted a photo of the Chicago Cubs' gift to season-ticket holders, and it all went downhill from there. The Cubs don't take kindly to goat jokes apparently. Nor should they.

Los Angeles Galaxy

First rule of Internet sports trolling: If you're going to take on a professional franchise, make sure you at least have the facts straight. 

An Everton fan trolled the regining MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy on Twitter in March—gave 'em the old bait and switch by asking for a happy birthday message. When the team politely responded, the troll let loose with some NSFW commentary that included the phrase, "hope you get relegated." 

You've got to hand it to the Galaxy for firing back a brief, dry and utterly delightful response. The team tweeted, "That's literally impossible." And it is. Relegation is a thing in European leagues, not in MLS.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Again with getting the facts straight. In May, a Twitter user and apparent Detroit Red Wings fan tweeted at the Tampa Bay Lightning, "@TBLightning has never won the cup in my eyes." 

Maybe he just doesn't think the team deserved its 2004 title or something? Who knows? Either way, the Lightning took care to create a witty response.

Curt Schilling

Former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling has been in the news recently for his public political commentary, but that's beside the point here. In February, Schilling made news for defending his teenage daughter against inappropriate Twitter trolls.

Schilling tweeted about his daughter's college plans, and unfortunately, several trolls took the opportunity to respond distastefully. Per ESPNBoston, Schilling said on WEEI radio, "This generation of kids, and adults too, doesn't understand that the Internet is not even remotely anonymous."

Schilling eventually called out several trolls by name on his blog. One was reportedly fired from his job and another suspended from school. Not anonymous indeed.

Miami Hurricanes 

The Florida State versus Miami football game is always a big deal. Taking inspiration from John Oliver's "Scream into the Void" bit (warning: video contains language NSFW), the Canes aimed to get out ahead of negative comments from supporters of their adversary by creating their own website, unsolicitedfsufancomments.com.

Steve Nash

Don't call Steve Nash frail. First of all, he's not. Secondly, he will come for you. One Twitter troll called the former NBA guard "washed-up," "frail" and some NSFW stuff in February. Nash responded with, "I'm the hardest 41 yr old you know Brodie. Watch your mouth or temecula." Brilliant. 

"Temecula" was a reference to a Twitter feud in which a Kobe Bryant fan challenged a Kobe Bryant critic to meet him in Temecula, California, to fight it out. Though the fight never happened, the reference lives on.

Kobe Bryant and Carli Lloyd

Speaking of the Mamba, after Carli Lloyd's legendary hat trick helped the U.S. women's soccer team win the World Cup, most people showered her with adoration.

One Twitter troll, however, accused her of being "more interested in being a celebrity now than being a soccer player," per Nate Scott of For the Win. Another wasn't quite so mean but did question her ability to train and go on talk shows. (What, like it's hard?)

Lloyd responded. So too did Kobe Bryant, a man famous for being excellent at social media. Don't mess with an American hero, Internet.

Cardale Jones

Where is it written that athletes aren't allowed to have opinions? In July, Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones weighed in on Twitter about the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter versus #AllLivesMatter debate. According Tyler Conway, featured columnist for Bleacher Report, one troll responded, "Worry about getting us fans another championship....stay out of this bulls--t. #GoBucks"

Jones let him have it, masterfully. And wouldn't you know it? The troll's tweet is no longer there, per Next Impulse Sports. Nor was the original account, at least for a while.