North Alabama’s Bradley Patterson had the distinction of being the rare Division II, walk-on long snapper to make a national name for himself. But it was for all the wrong reasons.
On Sunday night, when NBC pre-empted the first quarter of the 49ers-Patriots game to show President Obama’s speech in Newton, CT, for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Patterson tweeted, “Take that n***** off the tv, we wanna watch football!”
Several outlets and individuals on Twitter brought Patterson’s tweet to the attention of UNA athletics. Thankfully, within less than two hours, Lions athletic director Mark Linder responded with decisive damage control.
Thx 2 everyone who brought the inappropriate tweet to our attention. @unaathletics does not condone. He is no longer a member of the team.
— Mark Linder (@UNAAthletics) December 17, 2012
It’s not just Patterson’s transparent racism that he should be vilified for. It’s also his insensitivity toward the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy that was so intolerable. He got exactly what he deserved.
