MLB first-round pick forced to respond after Obama assassination tweet surfaces
As is becoming increasingly obvious, young athletes just need to avoid social media as much as possible if there’s even a chance of going pro.
Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen came under fire after several racially insensitive tweets surfaced. He had sent out the tweets as a 15-year-old, but they still caused a hullabaloo heading into the 2018 NFL draft.
Rewind another couple of years and Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil came under similar scrutiny for photos of likely drug use that surfaced right around the draft.
Happy Laremy Tunsil Day everyone.
Today we celebrate this unfortunate video being released, and the #Dolphins landing their left tackle. pic.twitter.com/zBPYHrSmQX— josh houtz (@houtz) April 27, 2017
Now the trend of social media stupidity coming back to haunt an athlete has reached into the MLB draft as well.
The Colorado Rockies selected left-handed pitcher Ryan Rolison out of Ole Miss with the 22nd overall pick of the draft Monday — and immediately came under fire after one of Rolison’s tweets was dug up.
In a tweet that he sent as a 14-year-old, Rolison insinuated that the only hope for America after former President Barack Obama won his second term was for him to be assassinated.
Here is @Rockies first round draft pick from @OleMissBSB Ryan Rolison now deleted tweet about assassination of former President Barack Obama on the night of Obama’s reelection pic.twitter.com/Jv2BpUOdeX
— 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 (@exavierpope) June 5, 2018
Rolison deleted the tweet and has not addressed the issue on social media.
He has spoken to The Athletic and, at the very least, seems to be saying the right things.
“It was in 2012 and it was a stupid tweet,” Rolison, now 20, said. “It was immature of me. I had no idea what I was talking about.”
The Rockies, meanwhile, insist that they did their due diligence in looking into Rolison’s character even if they might not have known specifically about the tweet.
“It was a long time ago,” Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich said. “It was regrettable. If there was some pattern of behavior, then we’d be talking about a whole different topic. But in this world we live in, in this Twitterverse and all this social media, these things are going to happen. Especially when it’s fully available to individuals who are not yet adults or thinking like adults.”
“I mean, look at it, not even adults make good decisions on Twitter,” Bridich added in an all-too-true statement.
For Allen, Tunsil and Rolison, their talents still allowed them to be drafted in the first round of their respective drafts. But the trend of damning social media posts resurfacing at the most inopportune time will likely only get worse as social media continues to proliferate. It’ll only be a matter of time before a fringe prospect loses lots of money due to an untimely blast from his past.
Professional athletes are the best at what they do in their respective fields. Naturally, that’ll lead to some jealousy and hatred. Successful people tend to beget enemies, and athletes need to be aware of this.
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