Mark it down, everyone. Wednesday, October 24, 2012 is the day that irrational Cleveland fans turned on Trent Richardson.
In case you’re wondering why some folks suddenly hate Trent Richardson, it’s because of this:
#browns Trent Richardson wore a lebron t-shirt during his group interview today. “love lebron” he said.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) October 24, 2012
That’s right, folks. A social media firestorm has erupted over Trent Richardson wearing a LeBron James T-shirt to an interview. Not his troubling habit of dancing around in short yardage situations, not the fact that there’s a possibility that his current rib injury might mean that he’s injury prone, not even the fact that he’s talking about playing this week even though the common refrain among fans and media is that he should sit out until after the bye week. Nope. We’re mad at him because he likes LeBron James.
“@marykaycabot: #browns Trent Richardson wore a lebron t-shirt during his group interview today. “love lebron” he said.” I want him gone…
— Alan Weber (@aweber86) October 24, 2012
I’ve never met Alan Weber, but I’d like to publicly disagree with the sentiment that he tweeted in response to the Richardson/LeBron lovefest news. Alan wasn’t mean, disrespectful, or any of the things that often comment on regarding unrealistic Cleveland fans. (A fact that I’ll give him credit for, because lots of tweets weren’t fit for publishing on #MTAF) He is just wrong.
Don’t misunderstand me, either. I’m not LeBron lover – I let Ryan carry that banner for More Than a Fan – but there will never be a time among elite athletes when connecting the greatness dots doesn’t happen easily and publicly. Especially when those athletes aren’t in the same sport.
We can hate LeBron all we want, but we want Trent and LeBron to be friends. We want the most gifted athlete in basketball to look at our running back and say, “Damn, that kid is good. I need to send him a text and get him to a camp or something.” We want LeBron to want to be seen with, and in the same light as, Trent Richardson.
Think about it this way:
If Florida born Trent Richardson was drafted from the University of Alabama by the Washington Redskins, wouldn’t we all be calling Washington fans names for being angry over him wearing the t-shirt of a guy who killed the Wizards in the playoffs 874 times? (874 is an approximate number. It may have been less than 874, but it certainly felt like more)
I have no idea if Trent and LeBron are actually friends, but I hope they end up that way. Look, I’ll never forget how I felt in the moment that he uttered the words “South Beach” on the four letter network, but that’s over now. I’ll never root for LeBron, and when I drink too much I’ll probably drop all kinds of F-bombs about him, but I want people to talk about MY running back the same way they talk about LeBron.
And if Richardson wearing a LeBron t-shirt to an interview starts that talk?
Good.
People complaining about Trent Richardson liking LeBron? Really?! He’s a competitor. Get a life. — Courtney Shilling (@cshillz) October 24, 2012
Honestly, I’d be more offended if Trent Richardson wore a Grady Sizemore T-shirt. — Tony Mazur (@TonyMazur) October 24, 2012