Internet Culture

Seahawks apologize after team’s insensitive MLK tweet

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Photo of Allen Weiner

Allen Weiner

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The Seattle Seahawks had one crucial fumble during their win over the Green Bay Packers, and one even more costly well after the game.

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In one of the more bonehead social media posts in recent memory, the team tweeted an unfortunate post that showed quarterback Russell Wilson in postgame tears with the line “We shall overcome.” The horribly inappropriate reference to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—whose birthday came one day after the Seahawks’ win over Green Bay in the NFC Championship—was met with such disfavor, the team promptly deleted it from Twitter. But, as everyone knows, what happens on Twitter stays on Twitter.

The team issued this apology:

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An overwhelming number of social media followers were outraged at the Seahawks’ attempt to link their star quarterback—a noted community leader in the Pacific Northwest—to the slain civil rights leader.

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Still, the team has its supporters who saw no need for the ‘Hawks to say they were sorry.

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Wilson, a third-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, is up for a contract extension this offseason with rumors that the team will attempt to make him the highest-paid quarterback in pro football. Having a reputation for being a man of high character, there’s little doubt Wilson will dwell on this public relations blunder.

The team has yet to say who among its staff was responsible for the social media faux pas, and how quickly that person was asked to turn in his or her playbook.

Photo via Philip Robertson/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

 
The Daily Dot