Paul George Isn’t Really Sorry, So Why Apologize?

By Court Zierk @courtzierk on September 11, 2014

There is a strange phenomenon that is occurring more and more with the mind-blowing increase in the popularity of Twitter. Athletes are saying things that they really mean in the moment, and following extreme public backlash, are being forced to delete the tweet and issue a public apology.

Do athletes and the public relations people that represent them think we are all idiots? Like we just dimwittedly accept their hollow apology even though it is only issued due to the proverbial knife put to the athlete’s throat?

The Indiana Pacers‘ Paul George is the most recent example of this scenario. Early this morning, George published a series of tweets that moronically downplayed domestic violence, made light of the Ray Rice situation as a whole, and defended a known abuser, basically in one sentence, which may have been unprecedented.

He kicked off his series of tweets by trying to make an unenlightened, politically charged statement, comparing the Rice situation to the travesty in Ferguson.

Keep it 100 lets act on this police violence like we actin on this Ray Rice case! Stay strong homie !

— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) September 11, 2014

He followed that up with the most inflammatory of his tweets, which has since been predictably deleted, that went something like this. “I don’t condone hittin women or think it’s coo BUT if SHE ain’t trippin then I ain’t trippin.. Lets keep it movin lol let that man play!”

There are so many things wrong with this tweet that it is hard to pick them all apart. Beyond its obvious insensitivity and idiotic syntax, he seems to insinuate that he falls into the Stephen A. Smith “she shouldn’t have provoked him” camp.

I think a good rule of thumb for these kind of tweets is if you have to start your statement by saying, “ I don’t support x,” as a clarifying statement, you are probably going to follow it up with something that utterly and entirely supports x. Just avoid doing it altogether.

But, I think what irks me the most is not the fact that he put out this tweet, although I do feel the sudden urge to delete any supportive tweets I issued about his leg, is the fact that he tried to backtrack. If you mean something, and say it, stop backtracking like we all can’t see past your transparent idiocy. If you aren’t sorry, stop saying you are. I’d respect you more if you didn’t try to fumble your way through a halfhearted apology that is frankly meaningless.

Let me apologize to the women and to the VICTIMS of domestic violence people my intent was not to downplay the situation..

— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) September 11, 2014

Bottom line, you shouldn’t say something stupid in the first place, but if you do, and you really meant what you said, stop treating us all like fools by retracting what you said. At least stand for something, even if it is deplorable.

Court Zierk is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CourtZierk, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on Google.