Rashard Mendenhall

[StantonisKing]

PITTSBURGH -- Rashard Mendenhall has created a stir with comments made on his official Twitter page regarding Osama bin Laden's death.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers running back on Monday tweeted: "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 didn't hold back, even making a reference to the Sept. 11 attacks.

 

"We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."

 

The Steelers felt compelled to act. On Tuesday, team president Art Rooney II released a 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, who profiles himself as a "conversationalist and professional athlete" on his Twitter page, turned some heads in March, as well, when he supported a comment by Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson comparing the NFL to "modern-day slavery."

 

"Anyone with knowledge of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel eachother," Mendenhall posted at the time.

 

Mendenhall is coming off a tremendous season, as he led the AFC champions in carries (324), rushing yards (1,273) and rushing touchdowns (13). He has 2,439 yards in three seasons since being drafted in the 2008 first round out of Illinois.

 

In the 2010 postseason, Mendenhall ran for 230 yards on 61 carries in three games with four touchdowns, as Pittsburgh defeated the Baltimore Ravens (31-24) and New York Jets (24-19), before falling to the Green Bay Packers 31-25 in the Super Bowl.

 

Among his other bin Laden tweets:

 

"I believe in God. I believe we're ALL his children. And I believe HE is the ONE and ONLY judge."

 

"Those who judge others, will also be judged themselves."

 

"For those of you who said you want to see Bin Laden burn ... I ask how would God feel about your heart?"

 

"There is not an ignorant bone in my body. I just encourage you to think."

 

Mendenhall's string of tweets ended around 6 p.m. Monday. He has not tweeted since.

 

Sports radio talk shows in Pittsburgh -- and around the nation -- were fielding calls on Tuesday about his comments.

 

Mendenhall has 13,631 followers on Twitter, and he personally follows 66. Included in the group he's following is the Dalai Lama, comedian Sarah Silverman and the Park Community Church in Chicago.

 

ESPN

[I Love Me Some Fish]

Yeah, he wasn't thinking at all. Being a well known athlete, keep that stuff to yourself.

[prin]

There are always people with crazy views and that includes athletes. Think about how something like 30% of Republicans STILL think Obama wasn't born in the U.S. Or all of the truthers that think 9-11 was an inside job. And now the deathers... who don't believe Osama Bin Laden is dead. Craziness.

[Erick]

I don't agree with what he said, but that doesn't make his statements stupid; as a matter of fact, if you think (as he apparently wants people to do) about his exact quotes, they do make sense.

 

It's not as if he's supporting Osama Bin Laden.

[babaru]

I don't understand why this keeps coming up about 9/11 and the conspiracy theories. Why is it so hard to believe that two identical towers rammed with two identical planes that burned in jet fuel for all most two hours, eventually collapsed under their own weight?

[babaru]

I don't agree with what he said, but that doesn't make his statements stupid; as a matter of fact, if you think (as he apparently wants people to do) about his exact quotes, they do make sense.

 

It's not as if he's supporting Osama Bin Laden.

 

 

oh, I do think it is stupid, especially considering why he is saying what he is saying... religion and the misguided belief that the creator will judge him for what he has done. But I digress, this is a whole other argument.

[Erick]

I don't agree with what he said, but that doesn't make his statements stupid; as a matter of fact, if you think (as he apparently wants people to do) about his exact quotes, they do make sense.

 

It's not as if he's supporting Osama Bin Laden.

 

 

oh, I do think it is stupid, especially considering why he is saying what he is saying... religion and the misguided belief that the creator will judge him for what he has done. But I digress, this is a whole other argument.

 

 

His argument is based on a religious mindset.

 

At least he's not a hypocrite, which is more than I can say for Chris Coghlan; it was surprising to see Coghlan's "I'm sure it's nice to see a little bit of justice has come" quote in the papers, considering how religious he is (at least supposedly is).

 

Quite frankly, I'm glad he's dead and I hope he burns in hell; however, if you're putting yourself out there as the super innocent religious man, it's hypocritical to be celebrating any man's death.

[mystikol87]

This is the dumbest tweet: "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..."

Bin Laden has been telling his side for a very long time, and he has admitted/taken responsibility for many attacks which have cost many [civilian] lives.

 

"We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."

Even if this was planned by George W. (), there's no doubt it was done with an airplane. We all watched it happen. I'm willing to bet their have been many engineers who've analyzed it. Is he suggesting there was also some sort of other bomb or something that we didn't see? That's pretty out there.

 

The rest of the tweets make sense, and are pretty coherent statements, putting aside whether you believe in God, which isn't really germane to this analysis.

[Erick]

This is the dumbest tweet: "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..."

Bin Laden has been telling his side for a very long time, and he has admitted/taken responsibility for many attacks which have cost many [civilian] lives.

 

"We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."

Even if this was planned by George W. (), there's no doubt it was done with an airplane. We all watched it happen. I'm willing to bet their have been many engineers who've analyzed it. Is he suggesting there was also some sort of other bomb or something that we didn't see? That's pretty out there.

 

The rest of the tweets make sense, and are pretty coherent statements, putting aside whether you believe in God, which isn't really germane to this analysis.

 

 

Certain tweets are stupid, but as you said, some of the others make sense, based on one's beliefs.

All in all, I think he's trying to be objective with his thoughts, although I'd say some of his thoughts certainly show ignorance and stupidity.

[Dodge]

Drunk tweeting - never a good idea.