Catching Ls: A History of College Sports Social Media Fails

When college athletes use the Internet to speak their mind, it usually turns out bad.

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Complex Original

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Last weekend, Oregon Ducks wide receiver Jamere Holland got himself kicked off his team. No, it wasn't because he was arrested--although four other Ducks players have been arrested just this past month. Holland got kicked off the team because after his teammate Kristian "Kiko" Alonso was arrested for DUI and subsequently kicked off the team, Holland went on his then public Facebook profile to tell the world that kicking Kiko off the team was "weak ass fuck." The next day coach, Chip Kelly told reporters that he wouldn't elaborate on why Holland was kicked off the team but that they were "smart enough to figure it out." We're thinking Holland might not be smart enough since he still hasn't deleted his account.

Holland may be an idiot for publicly criticizing his team, but he's not the first one to do so. In fact, a number of college players have used social media to play themselves. Here's a list of some of the biggest social media FAILS by college athletes...

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Buck Burnette , University of Texas Longhorns
WHEN: November 4th, 2008
CONTEXT: After Barack Obama won the Presidential Election, the offensive lineman went on Facebook and sent the following message, "all the hunters gather up, we have a n$%&er in the whitehouse."
COMPLEX SAYS: Thankfully, Burnette was kicked off the team after his racist comments. Later on, he took down his Facebook and apologized on two different occasions, claiming "Im not racist" and "I sinned against man and God posting what I did." Actually, his biggest sin was calling the most powerful man in the free world the "N" word.

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Courtney Fortson , Arkansas Razorbacks
WHEN: September 10th, 2009
CONTEXT: The day after his teammates were accused of raping a drunken girl at a party, Fortson tweeted, "Im gettin it at workouts like a dude who doesnt understand the word no from a drunk girl lol."
COMPLEX SAYS: Lucky for Fortson, no charges were ever filed against his teammates and the incident was forgotten. Fortson later tweeted, "There's always hardships u go through wit life but as long as u have control of yourself I'm sure u will find a way." Fortson's Twitter has since been deleted, which really bothers us because we found his tweets to be so insightful.

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Marlon Williams , Texas Tech Red Raiders
WHEN: September 27th, 2009
CONTEXT: The day after a disappointing loss, Williams thought it would be wise to tweet; "Wondering why I'm still in this meeting room when the head coach can't even be on time to his on meeting."
COMPLEX SAYS: Williams didn't get in serious trouble, but his tweet led Texas Tech coach Mike Leach to ban his players from having Twitter accounts. Guess this next guy didn't get the memo...

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Brandon Carter , Texas Tech Red Raiders
WHEN: September 27th, 2009
CONTEXT: After his coach banned his players from having Twitter because of teammate Marlon Williams, All-American offensive lineman Brandon Carter decided that the rule didn't apply to him.
COMPLEX SAYS: Carter's insistent tweeting is probably why he was striped of his captaincy, suspended for one game, and had his Twitter account deleted. At least now Carter knows why he felt like an idiot. Because, well, he is an idiot.

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Tyshawn Taylor , Kansas Jayhawks
WHEN: September 22nd, 2009
CONTEXT: While rumors spread that Jayhawks guard, Taylor, and some of his teammates on the basketball team were involved in a brawl with his school's football team, Taylor thought it would be best if he got on Facebook to explain that he "dislocated finger ..from throwing a punch... don't let the news paper gas yall up aite!"
COMPLEX SAYS: Taylor did not learn his lesson from the incident, because earlier this year he got in trouble again after rumors spread that he said he wanted to leave Kansas on his Facebook profile. After that, Taylor's FB profile was finally taken down. If you ask us, that's not very G.

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Malcolm Lee Twitter

Malcolm Lee , UCLA Bruins
WHEN: February 4th, 2010
CONTEXT: Lee's tweet shouldn't have been such a big deal, but he posted it amid speculation that he was unhappy with the amount of playing time he was getting.
COMPLEX SAYS: Lee claimed that the tweet was actually a phrase from a piece of poetry he wrote called "Muzzle" and that it had nothing to do with basketball. Lee later deleted the tweet but is still on Twitter (albeit with a protected account). Lee can say whatever he wants, but we think Lee's "poetry" is still about coach Ben Howland's notoriously restrained offense.

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