NFL star Rashard Mendenhall has found himself in hot water over comments posted to his Twitter account on Monday in the wake of Osama Bin Laden’s death.
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back tweeted, among other things: “What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side...” In another tweet in response to University of Illinois basketball player Dominique Keller, Mendenhall implied a 9/11 conspiracy, writing: “I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”
The Steelers have moved quickly to distance themselves from Mendenhall’s comments by posting a statement on its website. President Art Rooney II writes, “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.”
While Mendenhall is yet to be punished by his team for the remarks, he wouldn't be the first NFL player to get in trouble over tweets. Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was suspended for a game (which cost him $213,000) and released by his team following a gay slur made on Twitter.
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