Lamar Jackson ignited a social media firestorm earlier this week after he directed a vulgar message toward a fan criticizing the 25-year-old after the Ravens lost on the road. On Friday, the star quarterback offered his first public comments on the controversy and the since-deleted tweet that caused it.
Jackson, who normally holds his media availability on Wednesday, spoke about the situation on Friday, two days after he left practice early to treat a quad injury. When asked why he sent the message, Jackson shared that it came from a place of frustration, telling reporters he was “mad” and “bitter” following Baltimore’s 28–27 loss in Jacksonville.
“I was mad,” Jackson said after sharing that his girlfriend encouraged him to delete the tweet. “I was mad after the game, and when I got on social media, that was the first thing I [saw] and I just busted my behind, my whole team did, coaches did, and that’s what I [saw] and I just reacted to it. My bad.”
Jackson’s interaction with the fan occurred following Sunday’s game, a contest that Baltimore nearly won on a 67-yard Justin Tucker field goal attempt in the closing seconds. A Twitter user suggested the Ravens shouldn’t pay the pending free agent quarterback after he was unable to lead the team to victory, saying in a tweet that included both Jackson and Tucker’s Twitter handles: “When someone is asking for over 250 mil guaranteed like [Jackson] … games like this should not come to [Tucker]. Let Lamar walk and spend that money on a well rounded team.”
In turn, Jackson responded to the fan with a NSFW tweet that read: “Boy STFU y’all be cappin too much on this app mf never smelt a football field never did s--- but eat d--- !!”
Less than a day later, the situation took another unfortunate turn after the former MVP was accused in an article written by ESPN’s Jamison Hensley of using “an anti-gay phrase.” Jackson called Hensley out later that day in a tweet saying he was “reaching” and that the story was a “defamation of my character because not once have I mentioned or disrespect anyone’s Sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, Religion or Race.”
In regards to whether or not he thought about the ramifications of the tweet, Jackson acknowledged he didn’t consider the impact it would have on the organization before apologizing and re-iterating he was acting out of anger.
“Nah, not really. Like I said, I was just acting at the time,” he said. “I was mad, I wasn’t thinking about actions, you know? It was like bitter, I was bitter, I feel like you should be bitter after a loss, though, like, no smiles. I feel like the fans should be mad we lost too but not mad at us, we tried, you know? But it happened, I apologize if I hurt feelings out there.”
Neither the NFL nor Ravens have announced any discipline for Jackson as of this publication. He does not carry an injury designation into Sunday’s home game against the Broncos after following a limited practice to begin the week with two full sessions.
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