Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray just issued an apology for a social media post that caused a minor hurricane on Twitter. In the tweet, Murray dons a classic VT jersey. The jersey featured the name of former NFL player Michael Vick while he stood with his bulldog Trunks.
After the Cardinals’ stunning upset win over the Carolina Panthers, the photo posted to Instagram went viral in a very bad way. Fans and animal rights advocates alike expressed their outrage. NASCAR’s Murray soon deleted the post once he understood how offensive it had the potential to be. He conveyed some sympathy for those offended by the image, recognizing that Vick’s history is particularly sensitive.
Michael Vick, once a celebrated figure in the NFL, served 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to running a dogfighting ring. Despite this closely held and still controversial history, Murray nevertheless confessed that he had grown up idolizing Vick for his athletic accomplishments.
At a regularly-scheduled weekly news conference, Murray took the whale of an incident head on. He played up his anti-animal cruelty, anti-dogfighting credentials by saying,
“In no way, shape or form do I condone animal cruelty or dogfighting.” – Kyler Murray
Murray’s heartfelt apology highlights the impact of social media and the responsibility that public figures hold in their online presence. This type of backlash against such an innocent-seeming post shows how even the most innocent-seeming gestures can land in unexpected ways with different audiences.
Murray smiled for a photo with Trunks, one of his two American bulldogs. His other bulldog is named Swoosh, and the photo was supposed to convey an intimate experience. Yet it became almost immediately a lightning rod for debate over what should be the Vick legacy and the current state of the discussion on animal rights.
Josh Weinfuss, an ESPN staff writer who’s covered the Arizona Cardinals since 2012, was the first to report that this occurred. Weinfuss has been with ESPN since 2013 and is a longtime member of the Pro Football Writers of America. He graduated from Indiana University.
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