Well this should come as no suprise to anyone that follows sports. Rashard Mendenhall was fired via his tweets of Osama Bin Laden yesterday. Champion justifed the firing via this statment.
Champion is a strong supporter of the government’s efforts to fight terrorism and is very appreciative of the dedication and commitment of the U.S. Armed Forces. Earlier this week, Rashard Mendenhall, who endorses Champion products, expressed personal comments and opinions regarding Osama bin Laden and the September 11 terrorist attacks that were inconsistent with the values of the Champion brand and with which we strongly disagreed. In light of these comments, Champion was obliged to conduct a business assessment to determine whether Mr. Mendenhall could continue to effectively communicate on behalf of and represent Champion with consumers. While we respect Mr. Mendenhall’s right to express sincere thoughts regarding potentially controversial topics, we no longer believe that Mr. Mendenhall can appropriately represent Champion and we have notified Mr. Mendenhall that we are ending our business relationship. Champion has appreciated its association with Mr. Mendenhall during his early professional football career and found him to be a dedicated and conscientious young athlete. We sincerely wish him all the best.
Honestly in the day and age we live in i do not really understand why athletes don’t think about what they say before they say it. Once you put anything on the internet it is open to the public and can be seen by anybody.
Social Networks are like time bombs for athletes. If they put something that can be interpreted as wrong or that someone else may not agree with.
It can potentially blow up just like what happened to Mendenhall. Everyone is titled Freedom of Speech, but being that Mendenhall is a public figure and an NFL player. Anything that he says will be seen by more people and be under more scrutiny than say you or i.
It is funny in a way it is as if the Pittsburgh Steeler’s Organization can’t get a break. It seems like ever year their star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger gets into a controversy from getting in motorcycle crashes to rape cases.
Now Mendenhall’s recent comments, it seems to may they need some life coaches or something to teach these players how to act in a public forum.
***photo credit to blogs.ajc.com
