Mendenhall Tweets Himself Out Of Endorsement Deal
By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 7, 2011 5:45PM
Chicago native and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has lost his endorsement deal with Champion after sending out a series of tweets this week questioning the celebration of Osama bin Laden's death and even questioning the events of 9-11.
“We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style”"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 played football at Niles West and Lincoln Jr. high schools. He was the number one draft pick in the state when University of Illinois scooped him up. He was the number 23 draft pick when the Steelers chose him in 2008. He lives in Chicago in the off-season and teaches dance workshops in the area. In the Superbowl, many Chicagoans were rooting for him to help take down the Packers.
Steelers president Art Rooney II was quick to put out a statement to distance the franchise from Mendenhall's words.
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.
The team's owners have had to deal with tweeting players before. Last year the team traded wide receiver Santonio Holmes off to the Jets after he tweeted some controversial items, including telling a fan, "kill urself." That move was probably also their way of sending a message that they aren't tolerant of controversy, especially for the team's classy women-loving quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
There are no signs yet of the Steelers taking Mendenhall off the roster, but Bleacher Report speculates the team could do without the star running back.
Mendenhall put up a blog to elaborate and defend his comments, offering up a non-pology:
Nothing I said was meant to stir up controversy. It was my way to generate conversation. In looking at my timeline in its entirety, everything that I've said is with the intent of expressing a wide array of ideas and generating open and honest discussions, something I believe we as American citizens should be able to do.
Most media coverage has focused on his bin Laden tweets, but he has also used his Twitter to join Adrian Peterson in comparing NFL policies to slavery and to voice his thoughts on oral sex, including this classy gem, which has since been deleted:
"Going down on your man IS optional.. it's either gonna be you OR it's gonna be another chick. #choosewisely"
Perhaps it's time to just delete the damn account.
Full disclosure: This author is a big-time, hardcore, lifelong Steelers fan and 'Burgh native.