DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Browns RB Isaiah Crowell shares, deletes image of cop's throat being slit

Browns say Isaiah Crowell's apology for 'extremely disturbing' post is insufficient and must back it up with positive steps

Article:

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ss...art_river_index

Link to the photo he actually posted:

http://media.cleveland.com/browns_impact/photo/isaiah-crowells-instagram-post-265a8d5ea19f2b8f.png

By Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com on July 11, 2016 at 10:41 PM, updated July 11, 2016 at 11:09 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns have no plans to cut Isaiah Crowell, but they made it clear that actions must speak louder than words when it comes to his apology for an Instagram post depicting a police officer being stabbed in the neck by a person in a black hood.

Crowell posted the photo on Wednesday after the killing of two black men by police, one in Minnesota and one in Louisiana. But he took it down after a few minutes and issued an apology Monday through the Browns.

With racial tensions running high in the country in the wake of the murder of five police officers in Dallas on Thursday many fans and some media, including ESPNCleveland's Bruce Hooley, have called for Crowell's immediate dismissal by the Browns.

They currently have no plans to do that, but stressed in a statement that he must back up his words with action.

"We have spoken to Isaiah regarding his extremely disturbing and unacceptable social media decision,'' the Browns said in the statement, attributed to a team spokesman. "It was completely inappropriate and we have made him aware of our high level of disappointment. Isaiah has apologized but also knows that just an apology is insufficient and that he must take steps to make a positive difference after a very negative and impactful post.''

Before making any determination on possible discipline for Crowell, the Browns will give him a chance to redeem himself by being part of the solution instead of the problem. At this point, both the team and the NFL seem satisfied that Crowell took the post down immediately, acknowledged his mistake and is genuinely remorseful.

"The image was inappropriate and insensitive,'' NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email response. "He realized this, took down the post and has since apologized.''

Crowell, who posted the illustration the day before the Dallas ambush and not in response to it, acknowledged how wrong he was.

"Last week was an emotional and difficult week as we saw extreme acts of violence against black men across our country as well as against police officers in Dallas,'' he wrote. "I posted an image to Instagram in the midst of that emotion that I shouldn't have and immediately removed it. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people.

"My values and beliefs do not match that image. I am outraged and upset by the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile along with so many others. I am also outraged and saddened by the attacks in Dallas and the deaths of the five honorable police officers (Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa) who were providing protection while trying to keep peace.

"We have to be better as a society, it's not about color, it's about what's right and wrong. I was very wrong in posting that image. Every single life matters, every death as a result of violence should be treated with equal outrage and penalty.''

A person close to Crowell told cleveland.com that the running back fully understands the gravity of his mistake and feels horrible. But will that be enough for outraged Browns fans?

In a poll conducted by cleveland.com, 69.55% of readers as if 10:20 p.m. said Crowell should face as severe a punishment as possible; 18.37% responded that the teams should fine him, and 12.08% said the deletion and apology was enough.

n the illustration posted by Crowell, the officer is being stabbed in the neck by a person in a black jacket and hood, with his face covered. He has an ankh pendant around his neck, which was an ancient Egyptian character that represented the concept of eternal life. He's also wearing black gloves and an American flag backpack.

Blood is spurting out of the officer's neck and mouth, which is covered by the murderer's hand.

Crowell's caption read, "They give police all types of weapons and they continually choose to kill us....#Weak."

The post, which received 33 likes, was take down almost immediately, but was screen-shotted and circulated on social media.

Since news of the post went viral on Monday, Crowell has come under heavy fire on social media and will have his work cut out winning back outraged fans.

the problem is this isn't the first time Crow has displayed poor decision making. sure, he's got some talent ... but not enough to make him untouchable by any stretch.

the other problem is social media (twitter, IG, snap, FB, etc). it's easy for us to say "take it away" or "restrict it" ... but these guys in the NFL (and everybody that age) has grown up with it. Social media is literally their life. To restrict it/ban it would be nearly impossible ... and a bad look for the coaches/FO when it comes to future players.

Those too stupid to use Twitter should not have an account.

lol so 95%

I must say I'm impressed by the amount of moderation expressed in these post.

A one game suspension seems proportional to the offense, IMO.

That was the pic he posted??

Why is this dude even on our team today? I heard about it, but didn't see the pic that was posted.

Unacceptable, the negative media train finally started to chug it's way out and cool down, and now this.

Completely unacceptable, how about that Terrell Watson kid? Him and Duke! To heck with allowing him positive steps, get him outta this city.

up to this point in his professional career, Crow has been a pretty decent, well spoken kid. Nothing to complain about really.

but this is, for me, over the top.

I doubt he gets cut and I'm not calling for it either, but reprimanded and schooled in social media,, Oh yeah,, An apology and something to make amends.. More importantly I want to know why he would post something so freaking stupid just after 5 cops were killed in Dallas.

How stupid can he really be.

According to reports, Crowell made and removed the post before the Dallas officers were shot.

link

Dumber and dumberer. Just making bad situation much worse no matter how good the retraction and sermon might be.

Crow, you must have something better to do. Lay off this media junk.

As a police officer, I'd find it very difficult to have him using my time to rehabilitate his public image. He's shown his position on the matter quite clearly. So now the police are going to have to help him fix his own very public stupidity on top of everything else dumped on cops these days? No thanks.

I agree completely. Black kid grows up fairly poor in Georgia and Alabama, has probably seen more crap than most of us can even imagine.. struggles through and gets here where, by all accounts, he's been a pretty stand-up guy for 2 years, visiting schools, etc.. and in a span of 15 seconds he posts something out of anger and frustration and people want him gone.

And it's ironic, some of those saying he should be cut immediately, are also the same ones who blame other people for being too thin skinned...

I don't like what he posted, I hope he is sincere in that he really regrets posting it.. not just because he "got caught" and it blew up on him.. but because with a little more clarity he sees what a negative impact it has on people... I'm sure there are a lot of young black Browns fans who follow him.. this is NOT the message he needs to be sending them, I hope he realizes that and learns from it.

I agree Jeep. While I think it was more reactionary then it is a position he takes, no way should the cops be the ones to help him mend fences.

I don't know what he can do at this point. It's pretty hard to put the tootpaste back in to the tube.

If he wants to make amends it should be low key and off the books.... attending a big high-profile "photo-op" with cops would look like nothing more than a staged event to try to repair his image.

Go visit some injured cops in the hospital, visit the family of a fallen officer, go on some ride-alongs.. do it all without media coverage and without cameras...

What? Not on Cops/Cleveland? Bad boy, bad boy, what'cha gonna do when they come for you?

Well said.

I'm reading words like "reactionary", "emotional" , "highly charged" and "passionate". Just imagine if it was your life in jeopardy as our men in blue face daily and you had all those feelings, thoughts and emotions that you had to react to in a second. Live or die.

But the results of their response to the feelings are greater than removing a post and apologizing while moving on with life.

Crowell's behavior was totally disgusting and irresponsible! He is part of the problem. No excuse!

IDK, I see people saying others are overreacting. I see people saying he apologized and now, magically, all should be forgiven. Forgive forgive forgive.

I see all this, and then I look at that picture again and just cannot justify any of it.

He's made it known his opinion, and literally about as clear as clear can possibly get. I won't forgive him, he's the problem and nothing remotely close to any solutions.

I, just me here so chill if you get offended by the following - don't have any respect for Isiah. I'd personally feel better him, and the people who think like him, would leave our city... permanently.

I understand the frustration and anger from the black community regarding their citizens being killed by police officers.

On the other hand, I can sympathize w/police who have to deal w/so much hate and violence on a daily basis.

I think it is a bad idea to fight hate w/hate. If you are an honest black man and you are horrified, frustrated, and angry that some cops--and by extensions, some whites--profile you just because you are black............does it make sense to profile all cops--and by extensions, all whites--in return?

We were making so much progress, but in recent years, the divide between the races is rapidly growing. The media sensationalizes the situation and each day we wake up to find yet another headline screaming of one wrong-doing or another.

I maintain that instead of lining up on opposite sides of the proverbial street, that those of us who are intelligent and open-minded enough, work together to mend our differences and not make all-encompassing judgments of any particular group. I feel we should judge each person on their own individual merits rather that categorizing entire groups of people.

What a solid and outstanding post, bro.

Those who are a "part of the problem" are often in the best position to be a part of the solution if they choose to be.

Who will choose to reverse their views? Crow? Let's be real, his public spokesmen or whoever probably wrote, word for word, that apology and he just read it off an index card.

Chances are, if you're full of hatred, you won't care to be part of the solution, because you don't believe in the solution.

History is littered with examples of people trying to create a Utopia by removing those who have "bad thoughts".. it has never ended well.

Understanding, reconciliation, forgiveness... that's the way to change things.

Totally agree that those who are part of the problem offer the best opportunity to have success with the solution. However, your words "if they choose to be" are the key.

What will he "choose"? Right now there is way too much of an emotionallly charged environment to be so carelss and irresponsible with posts such as Crow's.

Right now nobody is listening to reason. I watched a panel last evening on The Kelly File. At the very first word that another disagreed with, there was bantering and immediate interruption without even hearing the entire thought. Few members even had the opportunity to get the entire thought out.

As a society, we need to get a grip on this and fast. We are on a path of destrution.

One member even called for the abolishment of the police department. How careless, irresponsible and non produtive is that? Gheeeeez!

j/c:

We idolize Jim Brown....why are we making a big deal out of this?

This is part of Crowell's statement. I think he should put his time where his mouth is and volunteer to do some community service for the Cleveland Police Department or something similar. I'm sure they could find a couple jobs they need help with. Maybe they can take him along for a couple rides as well to show him some of the nonsense they have to deal with on a daily basis. It would probably be an enlightening experience for all involved.

I am not in the "we" category. Sorry!

The problem is I highly doubt those are Crow's words or sentiments. I doubt he penned that statement.

Speaking for myself, I find what he posted to be absolutely disgusting. That said, I understand that he posted it in a moment of anger. Look around the country right now, there are a lot of Black people who are very angry over what they see as evil police behavior towards them. From my viewpoint, most of these are overblown, but I can see why they feel the way they do in some instances. So, like those people who are out protesting, he launched a protest of his own. It was ill advised, and he took it down almost immediately. We usually understand when someone says something in anger. This was really no different. It was his expression of anger, and within a few minutes, he removed it.

I have all along said that I believe in the 1st amendment, and that includes freedom of speech. The internet, today, is a form of speech. I would fight for his right to free speech, even when I find that speech to be appalling and repugnant.

Frankly I have a much different view of him for posting a picture like that. I find it to be absolutely nauseating. However, he put that online in a moment of anger, in response to what he saw as violence by police, against 2 Black men, in a time when many Black people think that the police are out to get them. I don't agree with what he posted, but I defend his right to offend me, and I recognize that he removed it almost immediately.

The fact that 30 people "liked" the image in just a few minutes shows how widespread these feelings about the police are. I hope that Crowell recognizes that he should be a role model, and behave better than that. Hopefully he learns from this experience.

I feel compelled to add, again, this was posted before the attack on police in Dallas. I would guess that he feels conflicted, at least, knowing that police officers in Dallas would give their lives, in a hateful, racist attack, protecting a protest that had mainly Black people in it. I hope that Crowell watched the video of the woman who was shot in the leg, and who had police officers jump on top of her, protecting her with their bodies, as she saw other officers die before her eyes. I think that would give him a different perspective.

Anyway, I am willing to forgive him for one incident, even a vile and disgusting one like this. God knows I have said or thought some things that were pretty hateful in my lifetime. I thank God that He was willing to forgive me for those. I feel that I must forgive others, especially if they seem repentant. (and I say this as a man whose brother is a Sheriffs Deputy)

There's no excuse and should be ZERO tolerance for this type of action. People need to start being held accountable for their actions, and until that happens, thugs like this will continue to make stupid decisions. I'll never root for Crowell again.....not in a Browns uniform or any other uniform.

what has he actually done to be considered a "thug?"

j/c

As usual, people wish to take a moment of extreme emotion they do not understand and use it as a time to inflict punishment.

not responding for CFan .. just asking out loud. What did Crow do to get kicked out of UGA?

I think it was gun charges.

Here is an article about it:

FWIW, both Tony Grossi and Jim Donovan today have described Crowell as a reserved and respectful "gentleman" and that this post was totally out of characted.

So what

To post something of this magnitude in such an emotionally charged environment that may instigate additional violence is unacceptable regardless of character.

I was upest as well but would never in a million years post anything like that.....NEVER. And even if I did, it would never reach millions. This reached millions of vulnerable youth!

Most unfortunate

No it didn't lol