Josh Allen will likely be one of the first players selected in Thursday’s NFL Draft, but the team that picks him may have to answer some unexpected questions about the former Wyoming quarterback’s character.
On Wednesday, offensive tweets that Allen sent several years ago began going viral. Some of them included racist and homophobic language. The tweets have since been deleted, but not before they were captured by Ryan Young of Yahoo Sports. Here’s what some of them said:
“@cheriishhh: i dont think you ni—s want a troubled son!”
“@J_Prodigy_5: @Alpha_Patlan (uhh) stay schemin … Ni—s Trying To Get At Me. doe.”
“Why are you so white? — If it ain’t white, it ain’t right!”
“*punches beaniboy f—–t in throat*”
The tweets were written when Allen was in high school and well before he enrolled at Wyoming. He acknowledged them to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith late Wednesday night and said he was “young and dumb” when he sent them. For what it’s worth, one team with a top-five pick in the draft told ESPN’s Adam Schefter they had no knowledge of the tweets and have “never heard anything but positives” about Allen.
Since Allen was so young when the tweets were sent, it seems highly unlikely that they will impact his draft stock. Still, the situation is yet another reminder (we saw something very similar with a Villanova star during the NCAA Tournament) that social media can create issues for athletes. Cleaning up social media accounts should be a priority for athletes looking to turn pro.
