Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner became the latest athlete -- and the third major leaguer this month -- to have old, embarrassing and offensive tweets resurface.
Tweets dating from 2011 and 2012 from the then-18-year-old's account included a gay slur, anti-gay comments and a joke with racist undertones.
"There are no excuses for my insensitive and offensive language on Twitter," Turner, now 25, said.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb also apologized Sunday after a series of offensive tweets he sent as a teenager surfaced, calling them "some stupid stuff."
The 25-year-old Newcomb spoke less than an hour after he nearly pitched a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The tweets were sent in 2011 and 2012, when Newcomb was a senior in high school. One tweet included a racial epithet that was part of a rap lyric, and several others contained gay slurs.
Turner and Newcomb are far from the first players to find themselves in hot water on social media. Many others have blazed this unfortunate trail before them. We look back at some posts that proved costly in the sports world, concentrating on those that had actual consequences that went beyond mere embarrassment.
(This file was previously published and has been updated).
NBA
- Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo resigned under pressureafter the discovery of anonymous Twitter accounts, reportedly opened by Colangelo's wife, used to criticize 76ers players.
- Heat owner Micky Arison wasfined an unprecedented $500,000 for several tweets he sent during the NBA lockout that suggested a divide and a rift between factions of owners (2011).
- Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire was fined $50,000 by the NBA after tweeting a gay slur and an expletive at a fan who criticized Stoudemire's play during the previous season (2012).
- Spurs guard Stephen Jackson was fined $25,000 for a hostile, threatening tweet directed at Serge Ibaka in defense of Metta World Peace, whom Ibaka got into a tussle with during a Thunder-Lakers game (2012).
- Knicks guard J.R. Smithwas fined $25,000 by the NBA for a tweet that went viral featuring a semi-nude woman (2012). He is also fined $25,000 for threatening Pistons guard Brandon Jennings on Twitter (2013).
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined multiple times by the NBA for criticizing officials on Twitter, getting fined $25,000 in 2009 and $50,000 in 2013.
- 76ers center Joel Embiidwas fined $10,000 by the NBA for using "inappropriate" language directed at LaVar Ball, the father of Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, on an Instagram Live video (2017).
- Thunder forward Patrick Pattersonwasfined $10,000 for criticizing officials for their decisions at the end of a controversial two-point loss to the Bucks (2017).
- Chad Shanks, the Rockets' digital communications director, was fired for tweeting emojis of a gun pointed at a horse head, implying that the Rockets were going to eliminate the Mavericks in the playoffs (2015).
NFL
- Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, rated by some as the top quarterback in the 2018 draft, dropped to No. 7 (third quarterback selected) after racially insensitive tweets surfaced from when Allen was a high schooler (2018).
- Browns running back Isaiah Crowell donated a game check ($35,294) to a Dallas police organization after a graphic Facebook post that depicted a police officer having his throat slashed (2016).
MLB
- Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader found himself in a firestormafter the All-Star Game when tweets surfaced featuring anti-gay and racist language. MLB said that Hader would have to undergo sensitivity training and participate in its diversity and inclusion initiatives (2018).
NHL
Soccer
- Switzerland national team player Michel Morganella was kicked off the country's Olympic team and sent home after making racist comments against Koreans on Twitter (2012).
- Chelsea forward Kenedy was sent home from the Blues' preseason tour of China for derogatory comments about the Chinese made in a pair of Instagram videos (2017).
- French national Samir Nasri was banned for six months by UEFA for a 500-milliliter intravenous drip treatment after photos on social media from a Los Angeles-based IV clinic showed him at the facility (2018).
- Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann posed in blackface as a Harlem Globetrotter on Twitter and later apologized after receiving considerable backlash (2017).
- United States and Stoke City winger Brek Shea apologized after brandishing guns on Instagram (2013). Shea also was the subject of an internal investigation after being pictured with a severed pig head as part of a "prank" against striker Kenwyne Jones.
Colleges
- Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo deleted his Twitter account after old tweets from 2011 and 2013, in which he engaged in racial and homophobic slurs, were discovered after his Final Four MVP performance (2018). The impact of the tweets on DiVincenzo's draft stock will remain an open question.
Golf
Olympics
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