Quite a few years ago there was a big to-do made about a trio of female country singers that had the audacity to speak out on politics while on tour overseas. The end result was the destruction of their band and singing careers, at least on the scale that they had enjoyed before then. But before they disappeared entirely, they produced a song that told their story, and a film titled "Shut Up and Sing" - advice they had been given in not very kind tones by former fans.
Thanks to at least a couple ill-conceived tweets by Rashard Mendenhall, perhaps a similar statement needs to be said to him - "shut up and play." Perhaps it's the fact that the NFL is on strike, and he doesn't have anything better to do. Maybe it's a matter of his honestly not understanding the situation fully. Either way, the fact remains that when any public figure comes out with a controversial comment somewhere like Twitter, it spreads like wildfire. Maybe Hines Ward should be taking a side-step from dancing for a moment to offer some friendly support off the playing field to Mendenhall on this one.
The first offending tweet seriously boggles the mind.
“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 …,”
Americans have been given the opportunity to hear from Osama bin Laden approximately once every year, with the annual video tapes that have been released to taunt our people and government. It is no secret what bin Laden had in mind for us since September 11th.
“We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”
We do know what happened, and it has been explained in excruciating detail by multiple sources in multiple formats, including ones that are not in print - documentaries that are typically aired on cable each year on September 11th.
The Steelers organization in general has been suffering from various image issues over the past couple years. Hopefully this won't become another one. Maybe it's time for someone to offer Mendenhall some friendly advice. Limit tweets to what you know - football.
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