On Sunday, Packers receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling received social-media death threats after he fumbled the ball late in the game and ultimately caused the team to lose to the Colts.
On Tuesday, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers defended his teammate.
“I would say that’s extremely unnecessary,” Rodgers said of the death threats, during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show. “I understand the rooting interests in the game and how important it is to so many people, and it’s really important to us, too. But I think that’s very unnecessary. I’m sorry he had to go through that. I’m sure if I was checking social media, I’m sure there would be plenty of games where that happened to me.”
On the Packers’ first possession of the extra period, Valdes-Scantling had the ball knocked out on a catch-and-run, which the Colts recovered. Four plays later, Colts kicked a game-winning field goal.
The third-year receiver expanded on his Twitter comments a day later, calling those threatening him “social media cowards” and saying he posted his tweet to “get people to understand that we’re humans, too, we’re not just some number on a jersey, that we’re people first.”
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“My advice to our guys would be to maybe put down the social media, whether it’s coming off a great game or coming off a game where you made a mistake,” Rodgers said.
