Sorry, But I Don’t Get It!
By: Tommy “Tj” Sotomayor

Lamar Jackson deletes tweet where he used alleged gay slur against fan.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson deleted a tweet Sunday night in which he called a fan an “mf” and used an alleged gay slur.

Following the Ravens’ last-second 28-27 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, a fan with 293 Twitter followers lashed out at Jackson’s performance on the app:

Fan:

“When someone is asking for over 250 mil guaranteed like @Lj_era8 [Jackson’s Twitter handle] … games like this should not come to @jtuck9 [Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker, who missed a last-play 67-yard field goal]. Let Lamar walk and spend that money on a well-rounded team.”

Jackson replied:

“Boy STFU y’all be cappin too much on this app mf never smelt a football field never did shit but eat dick!!”

Jackson’s tweet was online for 3 ¹⁄₂ hours before it was deleted, ESPN’s Jamison Hensley said, and the Ravens and NFL had no immediate comment.

In reviewing Twitter comments about what Jackson said, I am seeing many people saying “eat dick” is not homophobic, but it is because of the context in which it was said by Jackson.

Jackson was insulting and degrading this fan by calling him an “mf” who wasn’t man enough to play football and saying all he does is “eat dick.” That says Jackson thinks eating dick is unmanly and deliberately used it as an insult, something gay men have faced, like, forever. Therefore, it’s homophobic. (I like this phrasing from a gay person on Reddit: “To get down on your knees and put another guy’s dick in your mouth, is, to a lot of straight men, the most degrading and disgusting thing they could think of.”)

Jackson could have thrown out a whole bunch of other non-homophobic insults, but he resorted to a gay slur as what he saw as the f-you capper to his tweet. And deleting it shows he knows he crossed a line.

In recent years the NHL and MLB both disciplined players who used “cocksucker” in anger on the field. I have no idea what the NFL will do since what Jackson said occurred not during a game but on social media, but he shouldn’t get off with nothing. Regardless, don’t let anyone imply that what Jackson said was not homophobic because it was.