Why Does 49ers’ Kaepernick Favorite Fans’ Hateful Tweets?

Let me start my blog by saying I am probably the least likely person to write about any sport or any athlete.  I am not a sports fan at all, but I was intrigued by this story from Mashable.com.  It was an interesting read in that Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, “favorites” some very critical tweets about him.

The article refers to Kaepernick as “cryptic”, meaning that he doesn’t speak about why he does this, other than saying “it helps me”.  The reporters probe him further “does it fuel you?...is it motivation?”. He simply states “you could say that”.  Although we may never know exactly why he does this, I personally find it admirable. To me, it seems he faces his critics “head on” and is “turning the other cheek”, as they say. He reads it, even favorites it, and then, I believe, he moves on.  I don’t think he keeps them to dwell on the negativity or to “keep tabs on them”. 

One of the tweets that was mentioned in this article reads “@Kaepernick7 I hate you so much. I hope you fall off the face of the NFL planet…”.  Another post reads “he needs to be benched or traded”. I’m sure that these are some tame ones.  We do have the power to rant, rave, criticize and belittle anyone we choose with social media.  In my opinion, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.  I don’t think I could be strong enough to look at my criticisms the way Kaepernick does. I’d want to push them away, erase them, get them out of my mind as quickly as possible.

I guess those in the limelight have to deal with the pros and cons of their chosen profession.  All occupations have some type of downfall. But the worst is to be publically criticized, especially when the criticism is not even constructive. Kudos to those that can take it all in stride.

Quote from: www.thesavvyactor.com 

Original article may be found at:
http://mashable.com/2013/09/26/49ers-kaepernick-twitter/