Browns linebacker Tank Carder has issued an apology after he used an anti-gay slur on Twitter.
It started on Nov. 21 when Carder, a rookie who has played in 10 games this season, came across a comment he didn’t like on Twitter and responded to the comment by writing, “youre a faggot for that.”
On Nov. 26, Carder, 23, defended himself from critics on Twitter with several tweets, including, “yea they all getting butt hurt, and they are just chiming in,” and “I don’t agree with being gay or lesbian at all, but saying faggot doesn’t make me a homophobe, it’s just a word.”
Carder has since deleted that tweet, but not before he described himself as “unapologetically strong” and said he didn’t care what “haters” and “fools” said about him.
Soon after, however, Carder messaged a non-apology: “If I offended in anyway [sic], I do apologize, thought the guy was bashing team sports, big misunderstanding.”
However, on Nov. 26, Carder returned to Twitter with a more direct apology, and said he was sorry and didn’t mean to offend anyone.
“I want to sincerely apologize for the word I used,” he wrote in a tweet. “I did not in anyway [sic] mean to offend anyone! That tweet doesn’t define me as a person.”
To some, Carder’s apology will not be enough: Outsports.com, a website that specializes in gay sports news and commentary, is calling on the NFL to suspend Carder for a game for using the slur.
“Major League Soccer puts the penalty at a three-game suspension for this kind of language. The NBA puts the cost at $50k,” Cyd Ziegler of OutSports.com said. “Nothing short of a one-game suspension and that game check being donated to an LGBT sports organization will suffice as a punishment for this. It cannot be tolerated.”
