A Brief History of Player-Fan Beefs on Social Media

With athletes on social media, it's too often that we see one case after another that ends with their foot in their own mouth. Largely, this problem has to do with the fact that athletes are under constant scrutiny from the fans and media, and whatever they say, no matter how seemingly casual it may be, is up for grabs in the court of public opinion. Whether it's former Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson dropping a homophobic slur on Twitter or Carmelo Anthony allegedly calling for a bounty on Kat Stacks, there are plenty of instances where athletes and fans have duked it out over the Internet in some pretty incredible ways.

What incident sticks out the most to you? Was it that time when Marcus Vick put out a cash reward for hits to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper? Or did you like it when New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith silenced one of his female haters on Twitter? To show you how wild, hilarious, or absolutely crazy these moments can get, check out A Brief History of Player-Fan Beefs on Social Media.

Date: 10/25/2009
Who: Larry Johnson, former NFL running back
The beef: Larry Johnson called out his coaches on Twitter, and then took it to one of his fans when they began to fire back at him.

In 2005 and 2006, former Kansas City Chiefs running back, Larry Johnson, was seen as one of the greatest rushers in the league, with many analysts projecting him to break 2,000 yards after he managed to pick up 1,750 yards after starting just nine games during the 2005 season. However, none of these predictions would end up coming true, as Johnson instead took a steep decline after the '06 season due to injuries and attitude. The injuries likely had something to do with the fact that the former Pro Bowler was pushed to 416 carries during the '06 season, but the attitude was all his.

After the Chiefs had a rough start in 2009, Johnson had no qualms about calling out their head coach, Todd Haley, on Twitter, and when KC fans rushed in to support Haley, Johnson wasn't afraid to start hurling insults their way as well. To one fan, Johnson casually dropped a homophobic remark, drawing the ire of fans and media alike, as well as a $213,000 fine. Intolerance comes with a price.

Date: 8/29/2010
Who: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
The beef: Melo put out a bounty on professional sports groupie, Kat Stacks.

Twitter can be a great way for an athlete to have a personal, interactive presence with their fans. Or, if you're Carmelo Anthony, it can also allegedly be a great way to post a bounty every now and again. Melo was at the center of a strange controversy back in 2010, stemming from a tweet that said he'd pass along $5,000 to anyone who would slap professional groupie, model, and video vixen, Kat Stacks, across the face for him.

Facing public scrutiny, and a police report from Stacks, Melo almost immediately deleted his account after the incident and claimed that his account was hacked. Was she really worth it, man?

Date: 10/19/2010
Who: LeBron James, Miami Heat
The beef: LeBron gives his haters a holiday.

No athlete in our generation has been more heavily scrutinized than the invincible, LeBron James. Never was this more true than in the immediate season following his departure from Cleveland, and the formation of the Big Three in Miami. To commemorate the moment, James decided to give his critics their own Hater Day so that they could continue to fuel his fire. Given that nearly everyone was a critic of James at this point, that basically meant that everyone was celebrating. We'd say that Miami fans were on his side, but the Heat don't have actual fans.

Date: 1/12/2010
Who: Brandon Jennings, Detroit Pistons
The beef: Jennings got into a fight with a fake Twitter account that he thought belonged to Lakers point guard, Jordan Farmar.

Back when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks, current Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings got himself in an interesting argument via Twitter. At first glance, it may not have seemed too intriguing, as it was just Jennings trading words with Lakers point guard, Jordan Farmar. However, a closer inspection revealed that Jennings was actually going back-and-forth with a fake Farmar account, having been duped by one of Twitter's many, many imposters. Jennings, after finding out the ruse, deleted his account to avoid further public embarrassment.

You're supposed to look for that blue check when you're talking to other celebs, Brandon! Details, man, details!

Date: 8/29/2011
Who: Gilbert Arenas, Orlando Magic
The beef: Gilbert Arenas caught flack about his Twitter behavior from professional comedian, Joe Mande.

During his heyday with the Washington Wizards, former All-Star Gilbert Arenas was seen as an off-the-wall personality who was perhaps a little too flippant for his own good. Aside from the gun issues that got him suspended for much of the 2009-10 NBA season, Arenas was also regarded as misogynistic and flat-out unfunny, particularly by comedian and comedy writer, Joe Mande. Back in 2011, Mande took to his blog to address Arenas' Twitter etiquette, pointing out his weirdly sexual profile photos, along with his generally repugnant sexism.

Arenas took notice, talking back at Mande via Twitter by saying "the funniest thing u said in the article was ur a comedian," and "so i was write that the no talented joe mande wrote it." Clearly, Arenas saw that he was losing this battle, and quickly deleted his account soon after the beef became newsworthy.

Date: 8/31/2011
Who: Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
The beef: Chris Johnson has no sympathy for the little people.

Once upon a time, Tennessee Titans running back, Chris Johnson was an unstoppable force in the league, gaining over 2,000 yards during his second-year campaign with the Titans in 2009. However, since then, things haven't really been the same, as Johnson has yet to eclipse the 1,500 yard mark in a season again. Was his career year a fluke? The numbers suggest it, but don't tell that to Johnson. After the Titans back became a target of media criticism in 2011 during his drawn-out contract negotiations with the team, Johnson took to Twitter to let everyone know that he didn't care about the "fake Titans fans" or what they thought.

As you'll see in the photo above, Johnson is clearly all about getting his and he eventually did, in form of a four-year, $53.5 million contract extension.

Date: 6/23/2012
Who: Amar'e Stoudemire, New York Knicks
The beef: Amar'e directed a gay slur at a fan who was criticizing him on Twitter.

When an athlete is getting criticized on Twitter, sometimes, it causes them to get a little heated. In cases like this, regrettable words can slip out. It happens, but it really shouldn't. Just ask Knicks forward, Amar'e Stoudemire, all about that, as he used a gay slur to punctuate one of his responses to a fan via Twitter. The fan had messaged Stoudemire, saying that he hoped that Stoudemire would have a better year next season after a disappointing 2011-12 campaign riddled with injuries.

Perceiving it as a slight, Stoudemire shot back with vitriol, and his response quickly became newsworthy. FWIW, Stoudemire did apologize in the end, after realizing that what he said was inappropriate.

Date: 1/26/2013
Who: LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles
The beef: Talking trash at the mother of his child via Twitter.

Certain personal issues need to be kept in-house and off social media, and hashing it out with your baby mama is most definitely one of those things. Apparently, Eagles running back, LeSean McCoy, wasn't aware of this rule, as he took to Twitter to rail on his son's mom, calling her a "BUM" and a "waste of life" after she had publicly come at him on her own profile. Drama, drama, drama. After the dust settled a bit, McCoy deleted his account and, of course, claimed that his account was hacked. Can someone get these athletes some better security or something?

Date: 4/18/2013
Who: Chris Culliver, San Francisco 49ers
The beef: Culliver posted a photo on Instagram of some texts he shared with a friend, in which they both made disparaging remarks about women. Some of his followers were not impressed.

You may remember Niners cornerback, Chris Culliver, from last season, when he made homophobic remarks during Media Day for San Francisco's Super Bowl against the Ravens. Given that he was ordered to attend sensitivity training after these comments, you'd think that Culliver would've learned something from this experience. However, as he proved to us in April with a crude Instagram photo of some text messages he shared with a friend, most of whatever was said during those sessions went in one ear and out the other.

The photo—which depicted some degrading language of women in the texts—shifted Culliver's issue from homophobia to misogyny. Thankfully, some of his followers took him to task on the problem.

Date: 7/31/2013
Who: Riley Cooper, Philadelphia Eagles
The beef: Marcus Vick tweeted about Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, saying that he had a bounty out for Cooper's head.

Marcus Vick qualifies as a fan A) because he never really made it in the NFL and B) because his ego could use the reality check. To prove the latter point, here's Exhibit A, when the younger Vick tweeted out a bounty on the head of the embattled wide receiver, Riley Cooper, this past summer. As we all know, Cooper came under fire over the off-season for his racist remarks during a fight at a Kenny Chesney concert in June. So one can understand Vick's frustrations. However, when Cooper is the teammate of your older brother? That's a whole other story, and lil' Vick has no place calling for a bounty on a guy that his bro is supposed to be targeting every Sunday.

In fact, when asked about the tweet, Michael Vick said to the media: "I don't agree with what my brother is saying." For his part, Marcus deleted the tweet shortly after it was posted.

Date: 8/7/2013
Who: Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets
The beef: A female fan said that Howard would never win a championship, and Howard retaliated by insulting her looks.

Rockets center, Dwight Howard, has taken his fair share of well-deserved flack from fans regarding his shiftiness around the league. But now appearing to be firmly-situated in Houston, Howard is no longer going to take his critics sitting down. After one female fan decided to tell Howard that he was "never getting a ring," Howard's response cut her down on the spot saying, "with that face ion [sic] think u getting one either lol." LOL, indeed.

Date: 12/8/2013
Who: Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers
The beef: Roy Hibbert is pulling no punches when it comes to putting followers in their place.

Sometimes, when you're a pro athlete, and you have people breathing down your neck every which way on social media, it's time to just get the block button ready, and start rejecting people. Un-friend them, block them, do whatever you need to do to get some peace and quiet in the social media sector. Take notes from Indiana Pacers center, Roy Hibbert, who proclaimed on Twitter back in December that he was ready to start taking his followers down a few notches. Remember, just because you don't have to face Hibbert on the court, doesn't mean that you can't get denied by him off of it.

Date: 12/31/2013
Who: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
The beef: Melo ended his fan's year on a sour note after the guy decided to take to Twitter to criticize Melo.

Even during the holiday season, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony isn't willing to let up on his critics. After getting mentioned in a tweet from a fan who said, "how about you win a ring you fucking kill me man rooting for you all the fucking time and you always disappoint me," Melo simply responded by saying that he didn't ask for the fan's support in the first place. And he did it in a pretty creative way. If "glazed donut face" doesn't catch on in 2014, then we have failed as a society.

Date: 1/6/2014
Who: J.R. Smith, New York Knicks
The beef: J.R. Smith silences one of his female critics.

If you want to try and come at Knicks guard, J.R. Smith, on Twitter, then consider this a formal warning to think twice before you go in. You're stepping into a battlefield, and it isn't likely that you're going to come out unscathed. New York's mercurial star has often used Twitter as a means to address his frustrations with his team and the media, but he isn't afraid to fire back at fans who want to lob shots at him as well.

One woman—who decided to ask why Smith wasn't working on his game instead of sitting on Twitter—caught heat from the Smith in the form of a simple, well-tuned burn just a couple weeks ago, when he retorted by saying, "U look like a man!" Point, Smith.

Date: 1/14/2014
Who: Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins
The beef: RGIII turned a question about his arm sleeve into a rant against his fans.

No one can deny that Redskins quarterback, Robert Griffin III, had a difficult season in 2013. After lighting up the highlight reels during his rookie year, RGIII took a pretty severe drop-off in his sophomore campaign, especially compared to his contemporaries like Andrew Luck and the Super Bowl-bound Russell Wilson, as he threw just 16 TDs and a regrettable 12 interceptions. On top of his lacking production, RGIII was often regarded as selfish by the fans and media, and had to deal with all the pressures and criticisms that come when you're the face of a franchise. Perhaps that had something to do with RGIII's recent blow-up on Facebook that saw him address all his frustrations with fame and the constant spotlight.

All of it came from a fan who was criticizing him about his arm sleeve, and if he wore it strictly for the attention. It's safe to say that Griffin's response did a pretty good job of shutting the guy up.