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Rashard Mendenhall 'tweets' about bin Laden's death draw criticism
Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is being criticized on social media sites for Twitter posts that question celebrations of the death of Osama bin Laden.
"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 ...," Mendenhall wrote in a post on Monday afternoon. "I believe in God. I believe we're ALL his children. And I believe HE is the ONE and ONLY judge."
When another Twitter poster suggested that bin Laden wasn't responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Mendenhall responded: "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."
Mendenhall has 14,240 followers on Twitter, a number that increased last night after word of his bin Laden comments spread. In his Twitter profile, Mendenhall describes himself as a "conversationalist and professional athlete."
The Steelers declined comment and Mendenhall couldn't be reached, but other Twitter members were quick to bash the 23-year-old running back, who is entering his fourth NFL season.
Within hours of the post, dozens of people weighed in, calling Mendenhall a "moron" and "idiot," among other names. A few posters, though, agreed with Mendenhall's assessment.
It wasn't the first time Mendenhall made a controversial Twitter post. In March, after Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson called the NFL labor situation "modern-day slavery," Mendenhall agreed.
"Anyone with knowledge of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel each other," he wrote.
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune