It’s OK for a fan to not like a draft pick of his or her favorite team. He can even boo, or set fire to a jersey he bought or something.
But to suggest violence in response to that disagreement’s not acceptable, and it’s amazing that I just spent time typing those words because somebody doesn’t realize that.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Buccaneers team security is investigating a tweet sent in the direction of General Manager Jason Licht.
After the Bucs took North Carolina defensive back M.J. Stewart in the second round, a man named Mike Rogers sent a tweet which read: “When I see Jason Licht next time I roll through Tampa,” and included a GIF of a drug lord killing a police officer in a bloody shooting. The man has since deleted the tweet, and told Stroud he meant no actual harm.
“Yes, that was a total exaggeration,” Rogers said. “Just caught up in the moment. It was just a tasteless tweet. I’m not a psychopath.”
Licht said he was aware of the tweet but didn’t want to comment.
Rogers, whose Twitter handle is @LuvDemNoles22, said he was angry about Licht’s draft strategy. The Buccaneers traded down from the seventh pick to 12th, and chose defensive tackle Vita Vea rather than Florida State safety Derwin James.
“I wanted [Quenton] Nelson really bad, but then he went off right before us,” Rogers said, referring to Colts pick at No. 6. “Then we traded back. James was still there and a huge position of need. I mean we have [Chris] Conte back, and he’s a huge liability in my opinion. I also think James not working out for teams hurt his stock, but I don’t blame him. They have tape and combine to go off of.”
Somehow, Rogers felt that was justification to suggest murder. But, he’s not a psycopath, according to his self-diagnosis. He’s apparently just a guy with a skewed reality that makes it OK to joke about a brutal murder in response to a team picking a player other than the one he wanted.
