The Seattle Seahawks put together an incredible come-from-behind victory over the Green Bay Packers to land a spot in Super Bowl XLIX . After the game was over, quarterback Russell Wilson cried on camera and talked about what the team had overcome. On Monday, also Martin Luther King Day, the Seahawks tweeted that the victory was comparable to battling for civil rights equality.
Needless to say, they quickly deleted the tweet. Only, it wasn’t deleted fast enough. Deadspin was able to catch a screenshot of the tweet by the Seahawks before it was taken down.
Sure, the victory was the end result of the team overcoming great adversity and a strong Packers’ team to get into the Super Bowl, but it isn’t on the level of how the civil rights movement went. The backlash immediately started coming at the Seahawks for their tweet.
People weren’t just upset at the comparison made, but also at the fact that it was done on Martin Luther King Day. Obviously, the intent and point of the tweet was clear with Dr. King’s quote on the picture of Russell Wilson and the hashtag of #MLKDay accompanying it.
A couple of hours later, the Seahawks did issue an apology over Twitter.
We apologize for poor judgment shown in a tweet sent earlier. We did not intend to compare football to the civil rights legacy of Dr. King.
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 19, 2015
While an apology is what was needed in this situation, the tweet was already up far too long before it was deleted. It was screen captured by a large number of people and then Twitter users started taking over with comments of their own.
Next will be the Presidents’ Day tweet from @Seahawks with a quote from Roosevelt and a photo of Sherman making a pick.Smh #GetoverUrSelves — Miguel (@mikeperry159) January 19, 2015
As Bleacher Report showed, some Twitter users to put a bit more humor into the situation, even though it really is nothing to laugh at.
“Let us live in a skittles world where all the colors come together to be delicious” – Marshawn Luther King pic.twitter.com/0kOIreGKXB
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) January 19, 2015
The Packers 28-22 loss to the Seahawks was one of the biggest collapses in the history of the NFL playoffs, and it was a huge shock to the world. Now, the Seattle Seahawks are heading to a second consecutive Super Bowl, but Martin Luther King Day, the day after their big win, didn’t start out well for them.
[Image via FOX]