Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr tweeted what he thought was an inspirational message this week, but he was later forced to elaborate after the social media police jumped all over him.
After a news story about a 7-year-old who saved $10,000 for college by recycling cans went viral on Thursday, Carr sent the following tweet:
Saw that a 7 year old is collecting recyclables so he can pay for college.. has made 10k. Get off your tail and go work hard 4 what you want
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) February 9, 2017
The young boy, Ryan Hickman, became hooked on recycling when he was a 3-year-old, according to his parents. Ryan has since started his own business called Ryan’s Recycling, and he has recycled roughly 200,000 cans with the help of his parents. At 5 cents a can, he has contributed about $10,000 to his college fund.
Of course, recycling is obviously a hobby for this particular 7-year-old. Some felt that Carr’s tweet implied that young children should get off their you-know-what and start working.
@derekcarrqb I too am pro-child labor
— Barry Petchesky (@barry) February 9, 2017
Just saw a 10 year old is gluing on a fake beard and walking in stilts to work as a longshoreman for lunch money. What's your excuse?
— RoguePhillySportsFan (@FanSince09) February 9, 2017
@derekcarrqb spend your childhood collecting enough garbage and you can achieve anything
— UltimateMaleFeminist (@damienredicamn1) February 9, 2017
@derekcarrqb I hate lazy 7 year olds too. Let's put them in the NFL so they can work like the rest of us!!
— Jerry Hernandez (@TheRealJerryH) February 9, 2017
But that’s not what Carr meant.
Point is… dream + hard work = chance at accomplishment… not saying kids should literally work nice try https://t.co/8VoBhILcCn
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) February 10, 2017
We all know the point Carr was trying to make, but he just learned a valuable that even the real police have learned in the past — don’t cross the Twitter police.
