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Alexander Mattison, running back for the Minnessota Vikings, was recently attacked by a fan online, and UFC fighter and commentator Michael Chiesa came to his defense.
Mattison took to Instagram to share a DM he had received from a racist fan, after he made an error during an NFL game.
Michael Chiesa came across the tweet, and slammed fans for lashing out at athletes online. Chiesa, in a pair of tweets, said:
"Imagine getting your jollies off by hiding behind a keyboard and rifling off hateful statements to high level athletes. Pathetic."
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He further went on to add:
"Any person that DM’s, tweets or tags professional athletes to talk shit is a LOSER. Straight up."
@jasrifootball, who shared the post, censored out the language that may view as overly offensive. Alexander Mattison, however, shared the DM without censoring any of the words.
The fan attacked Mattison using racial slurs, including the n-word, which prompted Mattison to make a statement on the situation. He shared the DM in a story, and added that he was a 'human, a father, a son' under the helmet.
He went on to describe the attack as 'sick' and has since received an outpouring of support from various people online.
Alexander Mattison says he received more than 60 messages with similar language
After sharing the DM via his Instagram story, Alexander Mattison went on to add that he received more than 60 messages containing similar insensitive language and racial slurs.
He also shared a few more messages that he received through his Instagram story to highlight the situation.
What is perhaps even more concerning is that many of these fans, if they can be called that, appear to create throwaway accounts to commit acts like these. Both the messages were sent by profiles with very few followers or posts, and no display picture to speak off.
It's clear that these 'keyboard warriors,' as Chiesa described them, revel in the sense of anonymity they get on social media. After Mattison deemed this 'unacceptable,' many fans are following suit to express their support for the Vikings running back.
