One Tweet Too Far

(The Verge)- The world was gearing up for an epic Sunday Night Football showdown between two AFC power house teams, the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore fans were excited to get revenge on the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year, which prevented them from going to the Super Bowl. As everyone was talking about the game in the days leading up to this past sunday, tragedy struck one of the Ravens players.
Sunday morning, a little after 1:00 am, Baltimore wide receiver Torrey Smith received the hardest phone call of his life. His younger brother, Tevin Smith, died in a motorcycle accident at the young age of 19. While we do not know yet what exactly happened, police suspect no alcohol was involved. Smith was devastated. He grew up taking care of 6 younger siblings, learning to cook and change diapers when he was only 7 years old. Torrey was a father figure to all his siblings, especially Tevin. Torrey drove home to Virginia to be with his family, and his status for the Sunday night game was unknown.
After spending time with his family, Smith returned to Baltimore and decided he was going to honor his brother in the only way he knew how to…by playing football. He informed his family of his decision, and they were very happy he was going to play. As the game was beginning to start, the stadium announcer asked for a moment of silence for his brother, and cameras showed a tearful Torrey Smith, a truly heartbreaking moment.
Smith went on to have the game of his life. He caught 6 passes for 127 yards, and scored two touchdowns. His first touchdown he kneeled down and pointed to the sky for his brother. America was in awe by Smith, and fans from all teams, including Patriots fans and fans of the hated rival Pittsburgh Steelers were all rooting for Torrey that night. Except for one Patriots fan whose tweet changed her life forever.
The username @KatieBrady12 tweeted “Hey, Smith, how about you call your bro and tell him about your wi— ohhhh. Wait. #TooSoon?”
This was followed by another tweet after the Patriots lost saying “The Pats may have lost, but at least none of them lost a family member. I say thats a win”
Is that serious? How could anyone take a sport so seriously? How could anyone take to one of the biggest social media sites in the world and blast out not one, but two awful tweets? We are not sure if Torrey Smith actually saw the tweets, and hopefully he didn’t. Other people did see it though, and boy has this girl gotten a rude awakening.
Ravens star running back Ray Rice tweeted back at her “SMH (shaking my head-ed) you are a terrible person I hope you know the word karma”
These tweets have drawn the ire of Twitter users. The girl switched her profile to private, took down her LinkedIn profile and hid her Facebook account. People have been writing awful things to her non stop ever since Sunday night. Some of the things being said to her is extremely awful, and it makes those people no better. Still, her tweets got her noticed on ESPN, Usa Today, blogs and everywhere else on the internet. People are furious to find out she lives in the Baltimore area and works at Johns Hopkins, where others have actually emailed her bosses informing them of her disgusting tweets.
Let this be a lesson to many. What you put on the internet STAYS on the internet. You aren’t always anonymous. You have the courage to say things on the internet that you would never say to a persons face. Now that this woman is getting national attention, these two tweets may result in her losing her job. It is no surprise that people say awful things on the internet, especially Twitter. Still, football is just a game, a game many are passionate about. Don’t stoop to being a lowlife by making a joke about a players dead family member. How would you feel if someone made a joke about you losing someone?
Keep fighting on Torrey Smith, and continue to play great football for your brother.