Bosa social media tweets should be a cautionary tale

Sometimes irony strikes where you least expect it.

Take the San Francisco 49ers. Three years ago, the franchise had a
quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, who led a controversial social movement
of kneeling during the National Anthem. The purpose of Kaepernick’s
gesture was to protest police brutality against black people and the
systemic racism those people have experienced in the United States.

Several players throughout the NFL followed Kaepernick’s lead to the
pleasure of some and chagrin of others. Kaepernick has not played in
the NFL since 2016, in part because he was trending down as a player
and teams believed that “the baggage outweighed the passenger.”

Fast forward to the 2019 draft and the franchise selects Ohio State
defensive end Nick Bosa with the second overall pick in the draft. The
selection is significant because the 49ers are counting on Bosa to bolster
their defense in an effort to improve on a 4-12 season in 2018 and most
importantly gain an uptick in Kyle Shanahan’s third season as San
Francisco’s head coach.

Bosa’s selection gained news on another front. He is a known supporter
of current United States president Donald Trump. To suggest that Trump
is polarizing would be like saying water is wet. Trump also spoke out
strongly against players kneeling during the National Anthem, calling
them SOBs (and I don’t meant Sweet Old Bill) and suggesting that they
should be fired from their jobs.

Within the past six years, Bosa sent tweets referring to Kaepernick as a
clown. He also referred to Beyonce’s music as “trash.” Beyonce is a black
singer, actress, song writer, record producer and dancer.

At his introductory press conference, Bosa addressed his past tweets.

“I’m sorry if I hurt anybody,” Bosa said. “I definitely didn’t intend for that
to be the case. I think me being here (San Francisco) is even better for me
as a person, because I don’t think there's anywhere, any city, that you could
really be in that would help you grow as much as this one will. I’m going
to be surrounded with people of all different kinds, so I’m going to grow
as a person. I'm going to be on my own. I’m going to grow up, I’m gonna
learn a lot of new things. It’s exciting.”

On what his feelings are toward Kaepernick today, Bosa said: “No. It wasn’t
directed toward that. It's not like I’m saying his stance and what he was
doing -- that’s not what I was talking about at all. It was just a specific
thing that happened, and me, as a young kid, a thought popping into my
head and, boom, decided to tweet it out. Bad decision. I respect what he's
done. If it empowers anybody, then he's doing a good thing. I apologize
for that.”

For Bosa’s part, I’ll give the young man his due, he answered the questions
in a forthright manner, never once appearing on the defensive, which is
more than I can say for Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant.
While Durant is an overwhelming talent, he can be hypersensative toward
questions from the media.

Is Bosa’s apology genuine or rehearsed? That’s in the eye of the beholder
but if nothing else, he made the optics look good, which will buy him some
breathing room. The result of Bosa getting out in front of the issue is that as
long as he keeps his nose clean, he is less likely to get questioned. As a
lifelong 49er fan, I personally do not care who he supports -- or what he
tweets -- as long as he sacks Jared Goff, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray.

I’m not here to tell anyone who they should or should not support in the
political arena because it is our individual right. That is the beauty of the
United States of America. All I ask is that you do not choose company
time to advance your agenda, a la Kaepernick. If Trump loses the 2020
election and Bosa decides to take a knee during the National Anthem,
you bet your tail I’ll be raking him over the coals. However, regardless
of which side of the aisle you lean, Bosa’s aforementioned social media
posts should serve as a cautionary tale.

Is posting political points of view worth the headache? I am only
speaking for myself but I would say no. However, if you think it’s worth
it, knock yourself out because it’s your account, just be aware that
ramifications come with it. We live in a world where you can post an
opinion, substantiate it with fact but people will a) Still lose your
message in translation and b) Assume that if you like one side, you
automatically hate the other even if you never stated anything to the
effect.

I would utter the same message if Bosa was a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Given that Bosa was raised in a Republican household, should it surprise
you that he is a Trump supporter? On the other hand, would you expect
Nancy Pelosi’s kids to be anything other than Democrat?

Perhaps the most comical social media post I saw was, “He’s a Trump
supporter, he’d better produce.” Really? Bosa needs to produce because
he is the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. There is no reason other than
that one.

Regardless of how much irony strikes.