MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader took responsibility for racist and homophobic tweets that resurfaced while he was pitching in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night.
The hype surrounding Josh Hader and Tuesday night’s historic slugfest quickly faded -- after tweets containing racist and homophobic language that were posted when he was 17 not only resurfaced but were also reposted flooding the Brewers twitter timeline.
This was something Brewers fan, Robert Iverson, said should have never happened during the game.
“I don’t think it should be brought up at this time especially during the All-Star game I think it’s just people trying to get into his head," Robert Iverson said.
And if Iverson's theory about why the tweets resurfaced is accurate, perhaps whoever dug up the tweets achieved their goal. Not only did Hader give up a three-run homer, but some fans like Doug Schmitt also said based on Hader's performance last night, the pitcher seems to be a little worn out.
“I think he’s been overused the first half of this season so I think that’s what the problem is there," Doug Schmitt said.
But despite the controversy surrounding the tweets from when Hader was a teen, the Brewers pitcher said he will apologize to his teammates. He said he was young then, but he’s older now —and the language he used doesn’t reflect who he is today.
“There’s no excuse for what was said, and I’m deeply sorry for what I said and what’s been going on and like I said, it doesn’t reflect my beliefs now," Hader said.
The Brewers issued the following statement regarding the tweets:
“We have been in contact with Josh and he is fully aware of the severity of the situation related to his social media comments, regardless of the timeline of his posts. His comments are inexcusable, and he is taking full responsibility for the consequences of his actions. In no way do these sentiments reflect the views of the Brewers organization or our community.
“Those of us that have come to know Josh do not believe that these posts are representative of his beliefs. He has been a good teammate and contributor to the team in every way.
“We will continue to work through this issue with Josh as we prepare to resume games after the break.”
