Pittsburgh Steelers Rashard Mendenhall creates stir with 9/11 and Osama bin Laden-related tweets
Just days after Osama bin Laden was killed by United States Navy SEALs, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is causing a lot of people to raise their eyebrows when reading his recent Twitter posts regarding the death of bin Laden.
His first tweet came on Monday which said "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..."
After that, he referred to the terrorist attacks on September 11, tweeting, "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style." This tweet was removed later in the day.
Some of his other tweets infer that people should not judge bin Laden and that the only one who can do so is God. Another tweet on the same day as the previous two said “For those of you who said you want to see Bin Laden burn in h**l and p**s on his ashes,
I ask how would God feel about your heart?”
In response to Mendenhall’s recent posts, the Steelers franchise felt compelled to act, with team president and owner Art Rooney II releasing the following statement:
"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."
Mendenhall calls himself a “conversationalist and professional athlete” on his Twitter account and caused some controversy back in March of this year after supporting a comment by Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, that compare the
National Football League (NFL) to slavery.
After being drafted 23rd overall in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of the University of Illinois. He was signed to a five-year, $12.55 million contract with the Steelers, out of which $7.125 million is guaranteed. He was ranked as the
30th best running back in the league and was expected to be an asset to the team, along with Pro Bowler Willie Parker. Mendenhall had problems with fumbles during the 2008 preseason but worked with running backs coach Kirby Wilson to try and correct
the problem.
He was the franchise’s youngest player in his first season and got his chance to start after Parker was injured. However, he left the game after only nine carries for 30 yards due to a fractured shoulder, resulting in the end of his rookie season.
In his three seasons and 36 games with the Steelers, Mendenhall has rushed a total of 585 times for 2,439 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also had 50 receptions for 445 yards and one touchdown. He also had over 1,000 rushing yards in each of his past two seasons.
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