Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall went on a Twitter rant on Thursday, seemingly trying to stick up for his former teammate Antonio Brown.
In the string of tweets, Mendenhall, who played for the Steelers from 2008-2012, called his former quarterback 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, 2019Hours later, Mendenhall appeared to backtrack that tweet.
Clearly it’s no fun, when EVERYONE’s the accused...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
— Rashard Mendenhall (@R_Mendenhall) April 11, 2019Bryant McFadden, former teammate of Mendenhall, Roethlisberger and Brown, exchanged texts with Rashard as to why he sent out those tweets. Here's what Mendenhall said via text:
"As a friend of his (AB), I know he's not been himself lately. And where most attribute it to a big ego, I actually think he's hurt from all he's endured; bullying and racism being thrown at him every day online. People only know bits and pieces of what was an internal issue, and whatever transpired is probably still effecting him to the point he's not himself lately. I don't think that's excuses for the insensitive things he's done, I just feel there's some context missing."
McFadden also asked Mendenhall if Antonio Brown himself mentioned anything about Roethlisberger being racist, and here was his response via text:
"No. He didn't really want to go into the situation much but he seemed bothered by it, whatever it was. It seems easier to hurl insults and place blame on athletes of color while being quick to protect quarterbacks and players of a certain hue. Whoever's involved in the situation, and whatever role they play, should be equally regarded."
McFadden noted that during his time with the Steelers (2005-2008, 2010-2011), he never saw Roethlisberger do anything racist.
"Now, my relationship wasn't as consistent with Ben as AB or Rashard because they played on the offensive side," McFadden said. "But I've never seen anything racist from Big Ben when I dealt with him."
