Rashard Mendenhall was one of the top national stories of the day, and for all the wrong reasons. It didn’t help that we’re in the midst of a NFL lockout, so football news is pretty slow. But even if it were Super Bowl week, any time a star tailback tweets something that makes him sound like a 9/11 was a hoax conspiracy theorist, and an Osama bin Laden apologist/defender, it would be huge in the media.
Here’s an excerpt from his EBlogger post entitled “Clarification.”
I appreciate those of you who have decided to read this letter and attain a greater understanding of my recent twitter posts. I see how they have gotten misconstrued, and wanted to use this outlet as a way to clear up all things that do not truthfully represent myself, what I stand for personally, and any organization that I am a part of. First, I want people to understand that I am not in support of Bin Laden, or against the USA. I understand how devastating 9/11 was to this country and to the people whose families were affected. Not just in the US, but families all over the world who had relatives in the World Trade Centers.
Mendenhall goes on to bring up the two most controversial tweets, and then quotes bible verse to further explain his point of view.
He closes with an apology:
I apologize for the timing as such a sensitive matter, but it was not meant to do harm. I apologize to anyone I unintentionally harmed with anything that I said, or any hurtful interpretation that was made and put in my name. It was only meant to encourage anyone reading it to think.
To read the entire post go here
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
He does a regular guest spot each week for Chicagoland Sports Radio.com You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and Facebook