On his Twitter account, Monday Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker tweeted a DM he received from a San Francisco fan that used several racial slurs to threaten Baker. This came a day after the Cardinals week one 24-20 win of the 49ers. In his tweet, Baker said, “I’m all good with opposing fans talking trash. But This right here man… All you can do is pray for ppl like this.”
On Tuesday, the 49ers released a statement condemning these comments: “The San Francisco 49ers unequivocally denounce the racist messages sent to Budda Baker. The individual who sent the messages does not represent the 49ers or the Faithful. Per team policy, we are working to identify this person and will ban them from all 49ers games and events. Incidents like this demonstrate how much work remains to be done to address racism and hate in our society. We remain steadfast in our commitment to that work.”
While there are many unfortunate aspects to Twitter and the sports Twitter community, it seems like hateful acts by fans of certain teams to other players have only increased over the past few years now that they have a platform for hate. “Sadly, these incidents occur far too often,” team CEO Jed York said on Twitter. “Permitting these individuals to go unchecked allows racism and hate to spread. I urge other teams in the world of sport to consider our policy of banning those who seek to tear others down with racial slurs and threats of violence.”
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.
With their big three finally back in action Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered another setback…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…
https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…
Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…