Robert Henson (above) is describted by the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg as “a mostly unknown reserve linebacker for the Washington Redskins, a first-year player who had never played in an NFL game and was best known for being the son-in-law of television pastor T.D. Jakes.” Steinz might well have added, “a football equivalent to Johnny Burger King-hating Keith Foulke.”
A few hours after Washington’s unsightly 9-7 win against the St. Louis Rams, Henson had taken up an online battle against a segment of disgruntled Redskins fans, calling them disloyal “dim-wits” who “work 9 to 5 at McDonalds.”
Almost immediately, Henson became one of the anti-heroes of a game he had watched from the sideline, doused with criticism and insults on sports-talk radio shows and Internet message boards. And by Monday afternoon, Henson sheepishly exited the team’s Ashburn training facility, accompanied by several team spokesmen, to apologize for a Twitter-enabled diatribe against fans that provided him his first moment of NFL fame.
“All you fake half hearted Skins fan can . . . I won’t go there, but I dislike you very strongly, don’t come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!” he wrote shortly after the game ended, a message that would have been seen by his 1,200 or so Twitter followers. As fans quickly responded with disgust — including an editor from the sports Web site SB Nation and a radio host from 106.7 The Fan — Henson kept typing.
“No I didn’t play but I still made more than you in a year and you’d [gladly] switch spots with me in a second,” Henson wrote during a string of responses. “I was talking to the fans [who] said the crazy stuff, I’m use [to heckling] but I’ve never been booed in my own stadium. Again that was for the half hearted but if everyone wants to jump in come on. The question is who are you to say you know what’s best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds [sic]. You don’t wanna follow me anymore then fine but we play for you and win lose or draw we represent you!! My guy on the Rams said they never got booed even when they didn’t win a game.”
I think even the most dimwitted Mickey D’s employee can tell an alleged offensive genius like Jim Zorn might be hitting the bricks soon, particularly with the likes of Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher mulling their respective next moves.
this guy is 100% right. i live in dc and blog about this awful team on and off the field. fans are uneducated, fair weather and drunk in the hopes of someday winning a super bowl every year with a below 500 team every season. this team doesn’t connect with the fans as they sign new players every year..joke…