"Didn’t know Adam Schefter was running the ABC twitter account" - NFL fans slam news outlet for terrible headline about late Marion Barber
On Wednesday, news broke that former Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber III was found dead in his apartment. He was 38.
Tributes poured in for Barber on social media as NFL fans expressed their sorrow and shock over the sudden demise of the former Cowboys star. Amidst the outpouring of love for Barber, an ill-advised tweet from ABC News' Twitter account faced the wrath of NFL fans.
NFL fans lambast ABC News' terribly worded tweet about Barber
The news outlet reported Marion Barber's sudden demise in a tweet with a caption reading:
"JUST IN: Marion Barber III, the former Dallas Cowboys running back who scored plenty of touchdowns without recording a 1,000-yard season, has died, the team said Wednesday. He was 38."
JUST IN: Marion Barber III, the former Dallas Cowboys running back who scored plenty of touchdowns without recording a 1,000-yard season, has died, the team said Wednesday. He was 38. abcn.ws/3z8eia5
NFL fans were understandably upset about the caption. Most complained that reporting that Barber had never exceeded the 1000-yard mark in a season in a tweet announcing his untimely demise was unnecessary and highly disrespectful.
One fan even described the tweet as "tasteless":
WARNING: NSFW Language
Fuck off with this headline. So disrespectful and tasteless. twitter.com/ABC/status/153…
One fan replied that ABC News was insane to post the tweet:
@ABC just insane of you to post this
Las Vegas Raiders fan and NFL analyst Kenny King Jr. had some advice on how to write captions for tweets announcing someone's demise:
There’s ways to approach this. Name him, announce his passing and stop twitter.com/abc/status/153…
Another fan asked ABC to delete the tweet:
Delete this is disrespectful. 🤨 twitter.com/ABC/status/153…
NFL Rhodes Show host Lindsay Rhodes also dished out some advice on how to announce "awful news":
Take out everything between “back” and “has” and you have an acceptable tweet delivering awful news without callous, unnecessary and non-specific information. twitter.com/abc/status/153…
NFL fans compare ABC's Marion Barber tweet to Adam Schefter's Dwayne Haskins tweet
Fans also pointed out the similarities between ABC's tweet and Adam Schefter's deleted tweet about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who passed away in a tragic car accident in April.
In the since-deleted tweet, Schefter wrote:
"Dwayne Haskins, a standout at Ohio State before struggling to catch on with Washington and Pittsburgh in the NFL, died this morning when he got hit by a car in South Florida, per his agent Cedric Saunders. Haskins would have turned 25 years old on May 3."
RIP Haskins 💔💔
But the headline from Schefter is not called for. https://t.co/tRQhw3FvvK
Fans and players blasted Schefter for his tweet, and the NFL insider apologized for the mishap.
Fans quickly pointed out that ABC's tweet about Barber was similar to Schefter's about Haskins:
Didn’t know @AdamSchefter was running the ABC twitter account twitter.com/abc/status/153…
Pulling a Schefty here. twitter.com/abc/status/153…
ok Adam Schefter twitter.com/abc/status/153…
From the adam schefter school of editorialising a man's death twitter.com/ABC/status/153…
One Twitter user even asked if it was the ESPN insider who was responsible for ABC's headline:
Hey .@AdamSchefter you write this headline? twitter.com/abc/status/153…
The tweet has been quote retweeted close to over 850 times and is yet to be taken down as of the time of writing.