Cleveland Browns' Isaiah Crowell Forced to Apologize for Posting Pic of Cop Getting His Throat Cut

Via USA Today:

Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell apologized Monday for posting an Instagram illustration of a police officer having his throat slit by a hooded figure.

Crowell removed the image shortly after posting it.

The post’s caption read: “They give police all types of weapons and they continually choose to kill us….#Weak”

In a statement, Crowell said it was an “extremely poor decision” in response to police shooting and killing Alton Sterling and Philando Castile last week. The post was made before five Dallas police officers were killed last Thursday, according to Cleveland.com.

“Last week was an emotional and difficult week as we saw extreme acts of violence against black men across our country as well as against police officers in Dallas,” Crowell said in the statement. “I posted an image to Instagram in the midst of that emotion that I shouldn’t have and immediately removed it. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people.

I will usually be the first to give someone a pass for posting something stupid on social media while in a bad mood.

However…

I think he knew that this was probably a bit over the line.

Long before the Internet and social media gave us all a platform to be ourselves to a larger audience, famous people had managers, agents, and publicists around them to carefully manage their public personae. That’s out the window these days (imagine how much Alec Baldwin’s publicist drinks).

At the very least, Crowell’s apology was well crafted by his management team. His employer, however, is not completely bowled over:

The Browns, however, say he’ll have to back up his words by making a “positive difference” down the road. The team has heard from fans and some media calling for harsh punishment or even his outright dismissal.

“We have spoken to Isaiah regarding his extremely disturbing and unacceptable social media decision,” the Browns said in the statement, attributed to a team spokesman. “It was completely inappropriate and we have made him aware of our high level of disappointment. Isaiah has apologized but also knows that just an apology is insufficient and that he must take steps to make a positive difference after a very negative and impactful post.”

Those “steps” were not explained, though.

Crowell wasn’t the only pro athlete to discover in recent days that anti-cop sentiment isn’t universal.

Everybody is entitled to an opinion. Celebrities often make the mistake of sharing theirs with the public. Thankfully, the public isn’t shy about letting them know they’re stupid and wrong.