Former Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall took to defending Antonio Brown in a series of tweets Thursday before eventually labeling his ex-teammate Ben Roethlisberger a "racist."
Alright, I’ll end the mystery... B’s racist and @AB84’s black. He had to catch balls from a racist quarterback. Every honest player knows it, it’s not a big deal. He was just supposed to take his lickings and move on, like a slave for real. https://t.co/ubI39UDauY
— Rashard Mendenhall (@R_Mendenhall) April 11, 2019
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About three hours after tweeting that, however, Mendenhall backpedaled on his comments.
Clearly it’s no fun, when EVERYONE’s the accused...
— Rashard Mendenhall (@R_Mendenhall) April 11, 2019
Please allow the dialogue in sports to be equal. Why’s it so easy to shoot at one player, but not the other?
B’s not racist. Just like AB’s not a dirtbag.#letsbefair
Mendenhall received a lot of backlash on Twitter for his initial tweet. After all, using the sentence "he had to catch balls from a racist quarterback" is a very strong thing to say. It's not exactly the kind of statement you then retract within the same day. Either own it, or don't tweet it at all.
Mendenhall played with Roethlisberger from 2008 (when he joined the league as a rookie) through 2012. He also played with Brown from 2010 through 2012.
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Here are Mendenhall's complete thoughts on Brown's situation, via his Twitter feed:
"I know he seems outta pocket right now, but I seriously feel for [Brown]. As a black athlete in this country, you can literally lay your body out and give your entire being for a higher cause, the greater good of a TEAM. And when you face the firing-squad, for something not entirely your own doing, depending on your position and skin-tone, the 'team' may very-well leave your ass out to dry. Think about what it would take to render [Brown], the GREATEST COMPETITOR of our generation, incapable of showing up to play in his last game.
"To boil that down to [Brown] being a diva, selfish, quitter couldn’t possibly explain the MAN who for nearly a decade provided professional excellence to the city of Pittsburgh. By no stretch am I saying {Brown's] been without guilt this off-season. I just hope to see more compassion and examination, for a guy who gave everything he had until he couldn’t bring himself to do it, for even one more game."
Mendenhall played a key role on the Steelers as the team's starting running back for many years. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and even helped the team win a Super Bowl in 2009. In other words, he's spent a lot of time with both Roethlisberger and Brown.
