Hopkins and Shorts Defend Clowney

The former number one overall pick came under some fire after refusing to do an interview earlier this week. A couple of receivers came to his defense:

Sometimes reporters say dumb things. Even good reporters. We are all humans and nobody is perfect, but Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain made a huge mistake with a tweet earlier this week about Jadeveon Clowney:

Now, there is something to be said for a freedom to express what you want to say. But this is taking it too far–if you want to criticize someone’s play on the field that is fine, if you want to say the coach is an idiot that’s fine, if you want to say that your 10 year old daughter could spot talent better than Rick Smith by all means go for it. But taking a shot at someone’s health is going too far.

Players respond

DeAndre Hopkins and Cecil Shorts came to the defense of Clowney: 

Very short and to the point.

This is a bit more descriptive, and Shorts aims to be more fair to McClain. If outside voices cannot say unpopular things, then the freedom of the press will officially cease to have any meaning. But in this instance I agree with Shorts that low blows are not called for.

Joking about player’s health or personal life should be off limits. Later I think McClain came to his senses about it:

Glad to see that McClain attempted to rectify the situation. As Herm Edwards always says, “don’t press send”. In today’s culture it can be very easy to express frustration online, but it is always better to resolve issues in person, because putting someone else on blast on the web typically only makes things worse.