Breaking: David Clowney Tells Fan to “Kill Yourself”on Twitter
As a longtime fan of the Jets first, it’s not really with much pride that I’m helping to break this story, but I still think it needs to be done. Ugh, today really sucks.
For sports fans, one of the greatest strengths of Twitter is the ability to remove barriers between fans and players.
For sports fans, one of it’s greatest failings of Twitter is the ability to remove barriers between fans and players.
According to a Jets fan, today David Clowney sent a direct message to him Monday morning telling him to “kill yourself dude.”
Note: We’ve asked the team for a response, and have been told that it will be addressed, but no comment yet. We will provide it in this space once we get it, but will be on a plane later tonight so please bear with TJB.
It began early this morning, when Clowney tweeted out that “Even [through our] tough times there are SOME Jet fans that still support us and show us Love. Thank you.” It was a backhanded compliment, to which AlexL__ a New Jersey based Jets fan on Twitter frustrated with Clowney’s statement and the way the team was playing, replied on Twitter to Clowney.
@DavidClowney Quit worrying about fans. Boo hoo fans arent happy when this team talks super bowl and performs like [redacted]. Go win [a]nd shut up
According to AlexL__ this was the reply that he received from Clowney via a private message. I asked Alex to send me a screen capture of the messages and here’s what he sent. Note: Reverse chronological.
(click image for higher resolution, bad image software, sorry)
Ironically, noting that “we run what’s called” shows signs of progress from his earlier history of his use of Twitter when he got in the Rex Ryan doghouse by chirping about his playing time on Twitter.
Without getting into it (I don’t have time to dig out his tweets), Clowney’s pushed the boundaries more than Bill Simmons with his use of Twitter last spring, trust me. Again, I am taking Alex at his word, but that Clowney allegedly did this is not that much of a stretch to me based on past actions.
We’ve watched pretty closely how the fans and players interact on Twitter, and until now, as far as we know, for the Jets players and their fans, there’s been minor incidents here and there. For example, this morning Darrelle Revis took a fan to task for questioning his intentions by soliciting “ladies only” to “massage” him this week.
Beyond that, one thing I’ve seen crop up from time to time has been when players make statements to their fans about not supporting the team regardless of its performance. Some players seem of the mindset that fans are there to cheer, not jeer. David Clowney has been part of that dialog with fans in the past and it looks like he took it to the next level today, for whatever reason.
I asked Alex why he responded to Clowney in the first place, and here’s what he said, verbatim.
I responded to his comment about the fans because I have been behind this team the whole year and it hurts to hear a player complaining about fans. This team seems to be worrying to much about everything else but performing on Sundays. They shouldn’t be worrying about the fans because we have always been there and quite honestly if he thinks their play warrants all of the fans to be happy, he is mistaken.
After getting whooped by the Patriots a player shouldn’t be complaining about fans. This team has been talking the whole year about how good they are and they haven’t shown it. I just want to see this team win and I don’t think it will happen if players are worried about fans not being happy. If I was a player on the team I wouldn’t be happy so why is there a problem when fans aren’t happy?
Alex has an excellent point about players focusing their attention to the right things. From the perspective of a fan and I don’t blame him one bit for his confrontation of Clowney.
With that said though, from a journalist and “fly on the wall”, the problem is that this sort of back and forth between fans and players will only diminish the Jets front office’s Pro-Twitter attitude. One of the best things about the medium is that it allows for interaction, and in some cases, honest dialog with athletes. Based on this though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of that policy and players use of the medium start shifting and going towards the typical cliche statements that generally get into print.
UPDATE: David updated his Twitter account around 7:35pm tonight
UPDATE: 8:41pm – It appears David’s account was hacked. Here is a message from Jets beat writer, Rod Boone:
Filed under: Main Page
That’s a shame.
I liked Clowney’s passion and seemingly naive optimism a lot, but it’s really gonna smear his image if this is true.
No reason to snap at fans who are investing time and money to support your team. I’ve made it pretty clear that I strongly dislike the negativity when it comes to our fanbase, but this reaction is totally uncalled for.
I guess it’s b/c I’m getting old, but I kind of liked it when I didn’t know every stupid little thing a player was thinking. I mean, if you think about it there are at least as many jerks on a pro sports team as there would be if you gathered 80+ random people together. Twitter’s just another brick out of that wall that used to help us ignore that fact.
That’s really unacceptible. Clowney will be on this team for a max of a few (4) years, most of us will be fans of this misery of a franchise for the rest of our lives.
Do we really need to suffer through watching them play on Sundays and now have their players lose it on the fans via twitter?
Just cut him and be done with it.
It’s one thing to talk meaningless trash to opponents (meaningless cause it’s not being backed up), it’s another to disrespect the people who essentially pay your salary.
I can’t recall hating a collection of players more.
Go figure, a player jumps on a fan when it should be the other way around. Clowned, just like this team, is a joke. Call me not a real fan, but I am so glad that for the first time in 20 years I have stopped watching the games. I am tired of the Jets ruining my Sundays………….
i feel marooned on revis island..lol i like that .
I am not big on the close interaction between fans and players and would prefer players didn’t open themselves up to this kind of nonsense.
However, if a “fan,” is douchey enough to tell a football player to “shut up,” from the safety of his computer terminal, he should accept whatever response he gets and not whine about it.
Clowney lives up to his last name.
At least we will have something to remember him by, besides being the guy who made great plays in the preseason.
Yeah, totally unacceptable. Clowney should know better, i mean seriously, that is just idiotic to post that. Its one thing to get mad at a fan, not saying he should, but these players know better. he full well knows that what he writes is open for everyone to see. He sent this in a private message so maybe he felt that was ok, obviously not the reality. A player could say that to a fan, in person, b/c there’s no reprecussion there, but anything that is put into print, private or public, will always potentially be out there in the public. he should know better.
devil’s advocate is that fans will always taunt players and in this form of media, its more personal and more likely to reach him, rather than shouting from the upper deck at a game. BUT pro-players know this…they are trained for this (they have trainings on how to deal with the media and public/fame) he needs to know you can’t incite the fans. That the player is the one that needs to turn the deaf ear.
Clowney is going to have an amazing year, next year on whichever team signs him. For some reason I don’t think the Jets bring him back and he’s got a load of talent
DaveTN; I completely agree man, if you start knowing too much about players you start seeing how flawed they are as human beings (as we all are) and the thought some fans that the players are perfect people and our heroes goes away. I dont think its a big deal thought the term “kill yourself” is one of those terms used now adays that sounds much worse than it actually is meant to be. I dont think David Clowney wants the guy to kill himself, but it certainly wasnt a smart move to post that on a public forum like twitter. I do hate though when the players bring the fans into it in a negative way especially when the team is losing. Players say all the time ” the only people that believe in us are the people in this locker room” completely forgetting the 70,000 people that show up at the stadium every sunday to watch them or the millions of people cheering for them at home. Whether you truly believe that fans are part of the team or not you cant forget the fans when they support you and then call out their loyalty to the team. Us jets fans certanly know the reputation of our fan base, as a whole were very negative and pessimistic and tend to overreact in many situations, but for the most of us were here forever whether we want to be or not. David and the other Jets players need to know that. Dont take the overreactions so personally, and if you dont like seeing them than come out with 100% effort every game, they didnt do that yesterday, Jets fans are smart, we notice when Braylon Edwards comes out of a route slow and misses an opportunity to catch a mark sanchez pass that ends up getting picked off or, when kerry Rhodes misses a chance at an interception, or allows Laurence Maroney to run him over. Were both in the wrong, the fans need to not overreact as much and the players have to understand most of us arent just some clueless fans that blurt out random things about the team.
definitely unacceptable. but its not something you cut a guy over. lets not overreact
Wow. That is all I can say. Clowney crossed the line on that one. Clowney is a player and a dare I say it “public figure”. He has to realize that fans and media are going to say negative stuff and be critical of him and his team if given a reason to be. He just has to take it like a grain of salt.
While it is probably not the best thing to post to a fan….it does go back to enough with these keyboard tough guys that like to yell and try to abuse the players from their computer or blackberry… Clowney should still know better though…just not smart
I follow him on Twitter… he always comes off as a big tool, especially when he whined about not getting tn the offense about a month ago.This is not that much of a surprise.
Both of them are idiots. Just shut up! It’s juvenile. Do we really have to tell people “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
For us, it’s just a game. It’s just a team. I’m not saying there aren’t monetary, time, and emotional investments made as fans. Someone such as Alex is clearly passionate enough that this is the case. Anybody who checks this blog or follows players on Twitter is passionate enough as well. But they’re just guys doing their job and we’re just fans. What’s the similarity, those on both ends are JUST PEOPLE!
If anything, Clowney’s response is clearly indicative of how frustrated he already is by the Jets losing streak. But they’re just guys doing their jobs and no one, under any circumstances, likes smack. I don’t know what Alex does for a living, I’m sure he would be annoyed/irritated/pissed (he might be if he is reading this) if I told him to shut up and do my job. I’m a college student at one of the tougher universities and nothing irritates me more than when my parents or someone make sure I’m doing my work.
Point is JUST SHUT UP! Just because you’re separated by cyber space doesn’t give anyone the excuse to say whatever they want. You have to hold everyone in the same regard that you would if you were talking face to face.
All these people, like Alex, are doing is instigating more anger and frustration and problems. It’s senseless, it’s enough, and it’s downright immature.
“Just because you’re separated by cyber space doesn’t give anyone the excuse to say whatever they want. You have to hold everyone in the same regard that you would if you were talking face to face.”
Bingo. Well said. I’m not saying Clowney’s without fault, I’m just not a fan of the internet tough guy in general.
I follow all the jet players on twitter, and have come to the conclusion that this team is a joke. As a season ticket holder I am disgusted by the players on this team. Scott went from being the baddest man in the league, to a chump who hasnt done anything this season. And dont even get me started with Kerry Rhodes, the guy focuses more on twitter, Karako commercials, and going on SNY every weekend. Unfortunately i was unlucky enough to choose green as a kid instead of blue, so I will be in a lifetime of disappointment from this team, but this has got to stop. I’m pretty sure that this is the ONLY team in the NFL to actually hire IT guys to update the players twitter page when the players are unavailable, but this has got to end. Players are here for 4-5 years, fans are here forever. You can move on to another and win a championship while we still sit here begging for one. Focus more on football, and less on twitter and your fans. And please, for the love of god SHUT THE HELL UP. They are the best team from Mon-Sat, and then get embarrassed on Sun and continue to act this way. Show your commitment on the playing field, not in the press
Let’s see, Ralph Wilson flips the bird at Titans fans and I have to get upset about this? Clowney had poor word choice and blaming the fans for anything is dumb if you’re a player, but am I supposed to get upset about this?
Also the “fan” here is, I suspect, another Giants fan that likes to razz Jets players and their fans. Does this “fan” think that the Jets players aren’t tired of losing? I’m willing to bet that there’s plenty of players that would like to use Schotty as a pinata for calling so many deep passes for Sanchez.
The Jets talked at the beginning of the season about the goal being the Super Bowl. Shouldn’t that be their goal? It’s what we want as fans, too. But, I haven’t heard Super Bowl talk except from the press. So, why is this “fan” bringing that up? And, I don’t care who you are, but telling somebody to “shut up” is rude.
Clowney has to learn that unless a fan verbally abuses you in front of your family, you just have to take it. Especially, some asinine anonymous “Tweet’ from a Giants fan (oops, I mean alleged Jets fan).
Actually Kerry Rhodes lobbying to vote for him to go the Pro Bowl over twitter is even funnier.
“Actually Kerry Rhodes lobbying to vote for him to go the Pro Bowl over twitter is even funnier.”
Now, that is offensive and deserving of a fine.
That’s what you get with twitter. Honest dialouge that isnt necessarily scripted. So Clowney needs a PR person to proof him, I guess. I don’t think he’s a bad guy just because he reacted to some fan trying to anonymously show him up.
He just needs to realize his every move is being watched. If the fan told Clowney to go kill himself, nothing could be said about it. We’re living in silly silly times.
And I think we’re all just upset that the Jets keep on losing. Ugh… makes me want to kill myself come Sundays…. I won’t though.
Going WAY off topic, but;
Does anyone think that Vernon Gholston has been a bust because he has not gotten a fair oppertunity at his orignial position, at DE? We need a dynamic pass-rusher anyway, I wish they would stop trying to FORCE his transition from DE to OLB..
for better or worse, we hold people in the public eye to a higher standard. call a random person out in a tweet and tell them to ’shut up’ and chances are you will receive an unpleasant response. not that it’s classy, but that’s just the way it is.
I really can’t get too worked up over this. It’s not like he told the fan that he (Clowney) was going to kill him. So there’s no threat, just a suggestion. This is nothing. Move along.
Jake D,
Gholston is a bust because he sucks!
Clowney is another expendable Jet, like about 40 other guys on the team.
Jake – watch the games – Gholston sucks. He couldn’t beat a block if there was a Box full of talent on the other side.
It would be nice if we could just suck… but no. The players and coach continue to do EXTRA things like this – to embarrass us fans. Woody Johnson has let this team turn into a JOKE. I hate to say it, but good ole’ Leon Hess wouldn’t let this crap happen.
A little hard work, humbleness, integrity and sense of awareness goes a long way – may even help you win a couple games.
following clowney on twitter…. el oh el !!!!!!!
This is beyond ridiculous, it is shameful. I can not believe what is written by supposibly INTELLIGENT people. Now, i am going to say it..STOP having this male pissing contest and crying like a bunch of wounded b*****s. These men play football as a living to feed their families and entertain the so-called fans. What gives you the nerve to think that they are supposed to be your best friends?
Someone stated “we pay their salaries” how so? Unless you are a SEASON TICKET holder, you do no such thing. The disrespect given to professional athletes is disgusting! Some of you probably are some wanna-be athletes that couldn’t make your high school teams let alone a pro team. that is the reason why you take your bitterness out on those that have accomplished what you could never have. Do you take your frustration out on the cop that gives you a ticket? or the teacher that fails you? You “pay” their salaries too. But no, it is easier to sit your punk behinds behind a computer screen and type your insults cause you don’t have the balls to step up to real men (or women)
Grow up and get a life! if you have to spend your time twittering someone who doesn’t even know you exist and then report like some little baby to his mommy cause he got his behind kicked then you get what you get…Be a REAL man and get some REAL friends.
aw crap. here comes another benching!
you think this was an unprovoked statement from clowney? the “fan” was probably being dbag
for goodness sakes athletes are freaking humans and can have negative reactions to heckling. is this really all that shocking???
put this in the file of stuff i could give a flying F about
Jeez, I hope this doesn’t get blown out of proportion and end up with Rex getting rid of Clowney. I think he will be an above-average 3rd wr next year for the jets if they keep him.
Take all of these morons off Twitter. Just another distraction for a team that clearly has no discipline to begin with. I’m glad the players were liberated from Mangini’s prison camps, but this is the other extreme. Anything goes in Florham Park today. The fact that #25 is lobbying for Pro Bowl votes is probably the funniest thing I’ve heard in months. He’s a freaking court jester. The second I don’t ever have to hear him talk ever again will be one of the happier days of my life as a Jet fan.
wow. that’s unbelievable. and revis just protected his tweets.
joe b
is kerry seriously lobbying to go to the probowl? lmao! for what exactly? missing tackles, blowing coverage, and playing charmin soft football?! he is really pssing me off this year.
anyway, back to clowney..i wonder how long espn catches wind of this and blows it up and makes it story of the century?
ahhhh, the life of a jets fan…
This franchise is a joke. These players have no idea what this fan base feels every time they lose.
After the Dolphins loss at home,Clowney was more concerned about going on vacation to FLA for the bye week than caring about the loss to Miami
After the loss to Jacksonville last week,Clowney was busy showing family Times Square after the game.
Last week,Rhodes was soliciting votes for the Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl? Just win a damn game and worry about the team.
I doubt the Jets cut Clowney unless of course they feel comfortable enough to bring Britt Davis up from the practice squad.
No problem with it. Reading the posts on this board I’d probably say the same thing to half the posters on this site. If you want to talk to the players directly be prepared for the consequences.
he is as good as cut forget about it hell be off the team by the morning
Virginia Tech Grad, what are you going to do. Add him to the list:
Michael Vick
The shooter at Ft. Hood
The shooter at VT
Marcus Vick
David Clowney
VT needs to read the transcripts of people applying there.
Its funny, I actually responded to his post more out of frustration and what I said was that the reason Jets fans are frustrated is that most of them have been fans longer than David Clowney has even been alive
Check out David’s last tweets 10 minutes ago:
http://jetstwit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Screen-shot-2009-11-23-at-7.34.57-PM.png
The fact hes trying to play it off as if he was hacked is hilarious.
What a toooool.
Do you people realize that Twitter accounts are sometimes hacked? I’ve been following David on Twitter for months now and the tweets everyone is up in arms about sound NOTHING like what he normally writes. Either he has completely lost his mind, or he is NOT the one writing those things.
I’d hold off judgment until someone gets to the bottom of this, and something tells me there are going to be a lot of people that feel silly for some of the comments they’ve left on this topic.
Hes pretending to be hacked so he doesn’t get in trouble for what he really wrote before. Seems pretty clear to me.
Rich R, Yeah, he’s either hacked or it’s him but we’ll find out soon.
your right rich r i will feel so silly!! oh my gosh! who cares man hes a joke with a bad attitude.. the jets wr’s were absolutely embarrassing yesterday except for dk and cotch…. braylon doesn’t look like he give two craps about this team
Yeah he was hacked, that’s the ticket. LOL!
Has anyone ever thought that the fan is just making the whole thing up? It’s really not that hard to fake this. So what you have evidence it’s not that hard to photo shop or edit something. There really is no proof to this at all. I could say Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez told me to kill myself. All I have to do is just edit it and send it to jets websites and newspapers. I think this kids lying.
Ya know, he might just look good in silver and blue, we have a pretty good track record at rehabilitating tools. Just another one to add to the stable along with the others. Go ahead, cut him, I dare you.
PEOPLE HIS ACCOUNT WAS HACKED INTO
for those who are killing clowney should actually look at the messages and u will realize that his messages arent coming from the same place he normally tweets from echofon and the recent tweets are from the web, now im not saying he didnt make the main comment about telling whoever to kill himself but these new tweets dont add up
It is a mockery that we are talking aboout a backup,backup receiver. Clowney is a boderline NFL player.
I’ve been rooting for this team for 27 years……through garbage year after garbage year. Just shut up and play.
Noboby cares about what he thinks. He’s a joke, just like most of the rest of this team.
The Jets should release both him and Rhodes asap.
Anybody who tweets should get a life including Rhodes and Clowney. It is a huge waste of time. And who cares what they are thinking. Most football players who tweet are too dumb to say anything intelligent. Bench Rhodes and play Smith.
Dean,
You’re spot on. Well said.
Ed,
I thought you quit on the Jets?
If this was him or not…. David Clowney will be gone before the start of next season!
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81471c4a&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
Indeed Will check out the Notes on the bottom of this story- it says Clowney’s attack has been hacked. Now who would hack into a third string WR’s twitter account is beyond me, but that’s another story
Though it is possible the tweets to AlexL were written before the hacking
Instant communication is garbage, people start typing prior to engaging their brains. Everyone wants a sound bite, no one wants a message with substance.
[...] tweet, referring to this http://www.thejetsblog.com/2009/11/23/breaking-david-clowney-tells-fan-to-kill-yourselfon-twitter/ # Tagged as: Tweets Leave a comment Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on [...]
[...] Clowney, reportedly told a fan to “kill himself” in a private message on twitter after the fan criticized the team’s play following a Clowney tweet after the Jets lost to New England. The fan took a screenshot of Clowney’s note and it was posted on the internet by our friends at The Jets Blog [...]
You nailed it, Bassett. The greatest stregnth and biggest failing of twitter is connecting the fan with player.
No PR Person, No Ten Second Delay. Rather, Up Close and Personal – Live!
… Exposing the Best and the Brightest Rex’s Bart Scott, plus Revis, Jenkins, Fanaca and Jim Leonard as well as the immature Clowney and Kerry’s no Rhodes Scholar either.
Goto WFAN Podcast:
http://www.wfan.com/pages/460167.php
And, Listen for yourself.
Then, ask yourself if you believe his Twitter account got hacked? I’m calling Bullspit on the that one.
http://wfan.stats.com/fb/story.asp?type=REGION_NY3&i=20091124015245180000101
He had a couple of highballs in brandy snifters, know what I mean?!
“I’m high as a kite I just might stop to tell you to go kill yourself” – Violent Femmes
Look. I do like Clowney, but he’s a kid. A good kid doing stupid things. He takes care of his lil’ bro – very admirable. Yet, he’s gotta stop shooting himself in the foot by “killing” us Jets fans.
Stop living in a vacuum. Realize your tweets make you sound arrogant and insensitve to fans. You’re don’t respect your opponent, your team or your fans.
Enough about you. Think about us. Think before you tweet!
I”m really hoping there’s some leadership on this team who can take these young guys in.
Young tweeters, David Clowney and Kerry Rhodes, here’s good Ayn Rand quote from her writings on egoism:
“Consider your audience, and you will always have them.”
In other words, Check yourself!
I bet neither Clowney nor Rhodes have ever heard of “Atlas Shrugged”, much less read it. Greatest book ever! Yet another good post Dean.
[...] [thejetsblog] Share EVEN MORE UNATHLETIC STUFF OH MY BAD, LARRY JOHNSON WAS CUT BECAUSE HE SUCKS NOW [...]
[...] that in mind, he came to a conclusion that would make things easier for those cursed Jets fans and released it via Twitter. Kill yourself [...]
Sorry, I dont blame Clowney. He should be allowed to say whatever he wants since people have the right to say whatever they want to him. People act tough behind a computer screen, none of them would ever say this stuff to Clowneys face.
lol, twitter idiocy.
good one dean, it will fall on deaf ears, it always has
Someday football will be a real sport where teams will be rewarded at the END of the season for their results instead of lucrative contracts. The better they play the better their paid. Oh and the poorest player on each team gets the boot and no loot. LOL! What a game…it would have real incentive to be good!