Tampa Bay CB Carlton Davis Apologizes After Quickly Deleting Tweet With Anti-Asian Slur

Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis quickly deleted a tweet that had an anti-Asian slur on Sunday night.

Davis, 24, issued an apology for the deleted tweet after receiving backlash for the derogatory words. In the since-deleted tweet, the cornerback wrote, “Gotta stop letting g–ks in Miami.” The word is a derogatory term that is used towards those of Asian descent, specifically those of Vietnamese, Korean and Filipino descent.

“I would never offend any group of people,” Davis’s apology said. “You reporters can look for another story to blow up. The term was directed towards a producer claiming he ‘ran Miami.’ With that being said, I’ll retire that word from my vocabulary, giving the hard times our Asian family are enduring.”

The apology was accompanied by a screenshot of the word’s meaning from the urban dictionary. In the urban dictionary, the word refers to someone who is “lame.”

In a second tweet, the cornerback explained the word’s meaning and why he used it. “I used a term that from where I come from has always meant ‘lame,’ but I did not realize it has a much darker, negative connotation.” the cornerback stated. “I have learned a valuable lesson and want to apologize to anyone that was offended by seeing that word because we need to focus on helping each other during these tough times.”

The tweet comes amidst an increase of hate crimes towards the Asian-American community.