NFL star Rashard Mendenhall has found himself in an ocean of hot water over comments posted to his Twitter account on Monday in the wake of Osama Bin Laden’s death.

The Pittsburgh Steelers running back tweeted, among other things:

What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…

In another tweet in response to University of Illinois basketball player Dominique Keller, Mendenhall implied a 9/11 conspiracy, writing:

I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.

The Steelers moved quickly to distance themselves from Mendenhall’s comments and posted a statement on the organizations website. President Art Rooney II wrotes, “I have not spoken with Rashard so it is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments. The entire Steelers’ organization is very proud of the job our military personnel have done and we can only hope this leads to our troops coming home soon.”

Was he wrong?

Undoubtedly, yes parts of his statement are very wrong, but I have a hard time dismissing the whole thing.

What kind of person celebrates death?

This has been my single biggest problem with the general American response to the news of Osama’s death.  Why did we want Osama dead?  Well, the obvious answer is because he was responsible for formulating and leading attacks against U.S. and European citizens.  He killed indiscriminately with the goal of instilling fear.  If I reflect on what truly terrified people about Osama I would venture a guess that it was the joyfulness of his want to kill.  Osama and Al Qaeda are terrifying because they celebrate death.

So why do I have a problem with the response to Osama’s death.  Because, we the American people proved ourselves no better in our response to the death of an “enemy.”  Shooting fireworks, rioting in the streets, etc… are exactly the things we despised.  Are they not?  We’re suppose to be the good guys.  Act like it.

It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…

Sorry Rashard, but we have heard him speak.  Plentifully.  Osama’s message was a message of hatred and a call to arms against innocent people.  No justifying that.

That said, I think every American citizen could use a healthy dose of empathy.  We can’t win a “war on terror” until we understand why there are terrorists, the environment that breeds them and the situations and living conditions that make people turn to groups like Al Qaeda.

Rashard Mendenhall clearly is a little off, but I thank him for bringing a comment against the celebrations of Osama’s death into the limelight.  I just wish he hadn’t infused it with so much crazy.

What do you think?