LF: Furore as NFL star Rashard Mendenhall lashes out at people who celebrated bin Laden's death

Title: Furore as NFL star Rashard Mendenhall lashes out at people who celebrated bin Laden's death
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... lashes-people-celebrating.html
Published: May 4, 2011
Author: Daily Mail Reporter
Post Date: 2011-05-04 07:54:59 by Sebastian
Keywords: None
Views: 5499
Comments: 17

NFL star Rashard Mendenhall is at the centre of a storm over Twitter posts he made on Monday night about Osama bin Laden's death.

The Pittsburgh Steelers running back criticised people who celebrated the terror mastermind shooting.

It forced the team's president to issue a statement distancing the organisation from Mendenhall's comments.

Tweeting up a storm: Rashard Mendenhall questioned why people should celebrate the death of the world's most wanted terrorist

Mendenhall ranted on Twitter against the general reaction to the Al Qaeda's death and even questions that Bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

'I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.'

The scenes of celebration around the country on Sunday night and Monday annoyed the football star.

Euphoric: Crowds outside the White House in Washington in the early hours of Monday after bin Laden's death was announced

'It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side ...

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

No cause for celebration: 'It's amazing how people can hate a man they have never even heard speak,' Mendenhall tweeted on Monday

Damage limitation: Steelers president Art Rooney

'For those of you who said you want to see Bin Laden burn in hell and piss on his ashes, I ask how would God feel about your heart?'

His last line was: 'There is not an ignorant bone in my body. I just encourage you to think.'

Steelers president Art Rooney II issued a statement saying Mendenhall's comments did not represent those of the team.

Mr Rooney said: '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' organisation 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's words may seem startling, but they probably weren't to his nearly 30,000 Twitter followers.

He got in trouble with his Tweets in March after Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had compared being an NFL player to 'modern-day slavery.' Mendenhall agreed.

The football star, who refers to himself on twitter as conversationalist and professional athlete, is entering the third year of a five-year, multi-million dollar contract, agreed.

'It is a lot deeper than most people understand. Anyone with knowledge of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel each other.'

If Mendenhall wanted attention, then he certainly got it. He was a trending topic on Twitter for much of Tuesday and at one point he was the No. 1 search result on Google Trends, which analyses the web's most searched-for topics.

Actually thats pure bullshit Mr Rooney. We all can read and comprehend what this punk said.

(btw, I realize due to the NFL/Union negotiations it might not be possible to cut him immediately, but you get my point)

I understand since a judge ended the lockout, players can be traded. So maybe he can be cut.