Commentary — 05 May 2011

You knew it was coming.

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has been dropped by athletic sportswear manufacturer Champion for recent tweets surrounding the death of Osama Bin Laden.

Story HERE.

Mo’Kelly already knows what you’re thinking. No need to even make the argument. You’ve said it a thousand times for a thousand other celebrities or athletes who’ve lost endorsements relative to questionable behavior publicly or within the confines of their private life.

Save it.

Before you go out there and argue Mendenhall has been either treated “unfairly” by the media or his (former) corporate sponsors; here is some truth for you to digest.

Mendenhall is paid to help make the Pittsburgh Steelers the best football team possible. His endorsements deals accordingly are inextricably linked to his athletic abilities, not the ones related to social commentary.

No, Mo’Kelly hasn’t seen Mendenhall’s endorsement contracts, but you can best believe that there is a clause or two, or twelve which prohibit Mendenall from engaging in any activity which brings public shame or negative publicity to the endorser directly or by mere association.

Tweets re: Osama to get people to “#think” was a bad idea, is a bad idea and will be a bad idea for many years to come. Couple that with him retweeting Islamic quotes of wisdom on the same Twitter feed within the same  Tweet flow…and it’s all bad for Mendenhall.

This isn’t about “fair,” this is about common sense. It’s about perception. It’s about understanding the world in which we live.

It does not matter whether you may have thought that Mendenhall had a point or was thoughtful in his approach or delivery. It’s not in his job description and likely violates each and every endorsement deal he has and now stands to lose.

A corporate representative can no more tweet about the supposed debate surrounding Bin Laden’s death, than he/she can begin a dialogue on the alleged positive contributions of Adolf Hitler to Germany. The distinction is one of the many reasons why professional football players get endorsement deals and college history professors do not.

Mendenhall’s job is to advance the ball, not the debate. If social activism is his calling then he should understand its implicit incompatibility with endorsements. He can play professional football and reap the rewards of celebrity endorsements. Or, he can play professional football and use that as a platform for social activism. Corporate America will not allow him to do both and that’s fair. Champion did not sign on to be mentioned in any stories surrounding Mendenhall, Osama bin Laden and getting people to “#think.”  Champion did not ask to be included in any future boycotts of businesses connected to Mendenhall.

#Think about that Rashard.

Know your audience, know your employer and understand the climate in which we live.

Just last week, we in the African-American community were aggressively forwarding emails with lists of associated companies and advertisers in which to boycott because of their ties to Donald Trump.  Know that the very same was being done relative to Mendenhall.

Champion is a strong supporter of the government’s efforts to fight terrorism and is very appreciative of the dedication and commitment of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Earlier this week, Rashard Mendenhall, who endorses Champion products, expressed personal comments and opinions regarding Osama bin Laden and the September 11 terrorist attacks that were inconsistent with the values of the Champion brand and with which we strongly disagreed.

In light of these comments, Champion was obliged to conduct a business assessment to determine whether Mr. Mendenhall could continue to effectively communicate on behalf of and represent Champion with consumers. While we respect Mr. Mendenhall’s right to express sincere thoughts regarding potentially controversial topics, we no longer believe that Mr. Mendenhall can appropriately represent Champion and we have notified Mr. Mendenhall that we are ending our business relationship.

Champion has appreciated its association with Mr. Mendenhall during his early professional football career and found him to be a dedicated and conscientious young athlete. We sincerely wish him all the best.

Champion wants no part of it and neither does the Steelers organization.  Mo’Kelly gets it and so should the rest of you.

Rashard Mendenhall seems to be an intelligent and thoughtful individual. I understood the intent of the tweets and received them in the spirit I believed he meant them. He wasn’t taking up for bin Laden and surely wasn’t tacitly approving of 9/11. At the same time, Mendenhall should have known better or at the minimum used better judgment. This was the wrong subject, at the wrong time in the wrong forum to “stimulate conversation.” Moving forward, he himself will now have to #think and make a decision as to whether stimulating conversation on Twitter is more important than cashing checks on the regular.

He can play professional football and reap financially from celebrity endorsement deals. Or, he can play professional football and use that as a platform for social activism. But he surely won’t be doing both.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For more Mo’Kelly, https://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at [email protected].

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Mo'Kelly

Morris W. O'Kelly (Mo'Kelly) is a columnist, radio and television commentator. Visit https://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo'Kelly. Find him on social media - @mrmokelly

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