The Heisman Trophy Trust has been slammed after it seriously fumbled its tribute to football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson, who died from cancer at age 76.
The organization behind college football’s most prestigious individual award drew blowback after it shared a photograph of Simpson on X (formerly Twitter) and said it “mourns the passing” of the 1968 Heisman Trophy winner.
“We extend our sympathy to his family,” it added. A short, six-paragraph obituary on Simpson was also posted on the Heisman Trophy Trust website.
— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) April 11, 2024
Critics questioned the need to honor Simpson, who was found liable in civil court for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman and later convicted for armed robbery, in such a way.
I mourn for the Browns and Goldmans and send them my sympathy. But you do you.
— Greg’s Mom Forever (@SpiritAngels21) April 11, 2024
i feel genuinely bad for the person on the heisman trophy socials team who was pleading with everyone else "please don't post an oj post, we're going to get destroyed" only for some uppity up to be like "he was a legend of our game" lmfao https://t.co/sZx7cQJjb0
— jacky (@JackWilliamRtF) April 11, 2024
Your organization could’ve remained quiet.
— Jonathan Bowen (@BostonByBirth) April 12, 2024
Not posting was an option.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) April 12, 2024
This is completely unnecessary. No one needed y’all to post this.
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) April 11, 2024
Should have sat on the sidelines for this one
— RestoreSanity2024 (@RestoreSantity) April 11, 2024
They made Reggie Bush give back his Heisman https://t.co/xZjUdpg5y1
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) April 11, 2024
Embarrassing
— The Budget Yoloer (@TheJagtrader) April 11, 2024
One of the most frustrating things to witness in comms is when someone (a team, a leader, anyone) clearly said “we have to post something about this.” You really, really don’t. The reactions to/shares of this are 100x worse than random people noticing you didn’t post. https://t.co/23wan1PVe8
— Nick Hutchins (@nicholasrhutch) April 11, 2024
Boy if yall don’t give Reggie his trophy back 😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/rPSb59oces
— ⚜️ (@RobbBeaux) April 11, 2024
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