The Tragic Alexander Mattison News Cannot Pass Us By
Thursday night in Philadelphia couldn’t have gone much worse for the Minnesota Vikings newly-minted starting running back. Alexander Mattison fumbled on his first carry and ended the night with only 28 yards on 8 carries. A second fumble was negated because of an Eagles penalty late in the 4th quarter.
The Tragic Alexander Mattison News Cannot Pass Us By
What happened after Minnesota’s loss to Philadelphia was far more damaging, however: Alexander received messages from over 60 people that were violent, racist, and simply horrible in nature.
If blatantly racist wasn’t enough, these individuals called for Alexander to take his own life. Because of a football game.
An additional sick, sad irony of the situation is that Alexander’s foundation, I AM GIFTED, “emphasizes positive mental health practices in support of Mental Health Awareness & Suicide Prevention.”
Sport allows us to put aside polarizing differences and bond us together; it has the power to be a unifier and fails when it is a divider. At the very least, our passion can never allow us to venture into reckless, malicious, and hateful behavior toward athletes.
It is a sad reality that we sometimes need to be reminded that these men are humans, fathers, husbands, and sons, as Alexander said. As a fanbase and a people in general, we cannot let this tragedy — make no mistake, this tragedy of humanity — pass us by unnoticed.
The day after these messages flooded Alexander’s inbox, I only learned of the incident by seeing the news flash briefly on the SportsCenter ticker. To find out more, I opened Twitter, expecting to see “Alexander Mattison” or something similar trending. Instead, “Kwesi” and “Caleb Williams” were trending, showing that Vikings fans were still focused on berating their general manager and debating whether it was time to tank for the best QB prospect in next year’s draft.
Vikings fans continued to posit what the Vikings needed to do to get out of an 0-2 start. That’s all well and good, but it misses the mark. What happened to Alexander Mattison — and previously happened to Josh Metellus — happens all too frequently; it’s far more important than the game.
Thankfully, Alexander has a supportive locker room, organization, and loving family to help him wade through the muck surrounding him. Not all athletes have that.
As we look ahead to the Chargers, let’s keep this incident at the forefront of our minds. Let’s embrace one of our own.
Spread the word about the good work I AM GIFTED is doing and grab some of their fresh merch. Buy a #2 Vikings jersey and wear it to U.S. Bank Stadium this Sunday. If you’re in the stadium on Sunday afternoon, go nuts when Mattison touches the ball.
Rather than sending a critical message to the guy his teammates call “Deuce,” send him an encouraging one like one young fan, whom Mattison has supported through being bullied, did after hearing the news from Thursday night.
It can be easy in situations like these to assume someone else is always to blame. And while we may never say something so vile toward another individual, none of us, for one second, can assume that we are free from all blame. We need to consider what we do, or fail to do, that contributes to a culture of negativity and hatred.
What is it that we can do to build up others, as C.J. Ham, Josh Metellus, and the rest of the Vikings have done for Alexander Mattison?
We cannot let this moment pass us by unnoticed. Starting now, let’s build up Alexander Mattison and the men who put on the football pads every Sunday. There’s no need to tear them down.
Will is a husband, father, and earned an undergraduate degree in Economics (just like Kwesi Adofo-Mensah). Will’s favorite pastimes are water skiing, Minnesota sports, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. He is the co-host of the Load the Box Vikings Podcast with Jordan Hawthorn. Follow him on Twitter (@willbadlose) and find his other sports content at Twins Daily and his very own Bad Loser Blog.
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