Ravens kick cut player on his way out the door
NFL teams release, sign and promote players nearly every day, and most of those moves are announced through their respective Twitter accounts and on team websites. And almost every such tweet is a simple line, giving the information of a transaction.
But on Tuesday, when the Baltimore Ravens’ Twitter feed announced that the team had waived Jeremy Ross, it added that Ross had fumbled twice in three games:
Undoubtedly, Ross knows what he did, and Ravens fans likely know too. And if his fumbles, particularly a muffed punt against Jacksonville on Sunday, were the reason for his release, that’s understandable – the NFL is a results business, and if you’re not getting it done, a team will look for someone who can.
But this smacks of kicking a man when he’s down.
Of course, let’s consider the source here. While other teams use their page to make a subtle message (the Patriots changed their Twitter avatar to Tom Brady’s jersey to show support for the quarterback after his Deflategate suspension was handed down, and the Panthers tweeted a vine of Cam Newton dancing on Tuesday in reponse to the ridiculous letter written by a “concerned mother” about his celebrating), and some teams have engaged in playful back-and-forth on the site, but the Ravens’ Twitter feed and team website are a little different.
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Tuesday’s public flogging of Ross came a day after caoch John Harbaugh said, “It’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about having each other’s backs,” but then went on to single out miscues by Ross and cornerback Asa Jackson, who was also released.
Previously, there was the infamous tone-deaf tweet from the Ray Rice press conference when they tweeted that Janay Rice “regrets the role she played” on the night she was cold-cocked by her then-fiance in an Atlantic City elevator.
Last month, after a couple of questionable calls against them when they played Arizona, the team posted “Let’s take a look at those calls again” with a link to a story with video and quotes from players complaining about the calls, in direct violation of a memo the NFL sent out to clubs a month earlier reminding them not to publicily criticize officiating or other teams.
