Professional athletes responding to social media fans/critics is very common in today’s age of sports. We see it very frequently when a player gets fed up with receiving hurtful/threatening messages on social media to the point where they acknowledge the comments. We rarely see a player do so in the middle of a game, which is what Philadelphia Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell did.
After committing a costly fumble during the first half of the Eagles Week 8 game against the Washington Commanders, Gainwell went into the locker room at halftime and decided to look at his phone. On his phone, he had received an Instagram message from an Eagles fan who told him to "Hold on to the football you f****** bum."
To the Instagram user’s surprise, Gainwell responded to his message during halftime: "Lil boy don’t text me," Gainwell said.
On Monday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about the matter and how/if it had been addressed with Gainwell.
"Of course, we talked to Kenny [Gainwell] about that," Siranni said. Siranni went on to mention that "This is a part of these guys’ lives…" Unfortunately, critics and social media trolls come with the territory of being a professional athlete.
However, Siranni was quick to make sure people know that not only does he not condone this type of behavior, but Gainwell is aware that he messed up. "No, he shouldn’t respond to that guy or that girl at all… He knows he made a mistake responding back to that person…"
It remains to be seen if the Eagles/NFL take action towards Gainwell, but it is important to note that Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt was fined by the league last season after admitting he checked his phone in Week 18 of the 2021 season.
