A Instagram post from country music legend Garth Brooks had some fans outraged. The post, which has over 69 thousand likes, was a thank you note from Brooks to the city of Detroit, which was the latest stop on his “Garth Brooks Stadium Tour.” The musician wore a Detroit Lions jersey during his performance in the Motor City, which was featured in the post. However, that’s only where the story begins.
The name-plate read “Sanders,” which to most football fans would obviously be referring to a Barry Sanders jersey. The Hall of Fame running back played ten seasons for the Lions, leading the league in rushing yards for four of those years. Sanders also won the NFL MVP, and had his number 20 retired by the franchise. However, many online did not appear to be aware of any of this and that’s where the outrage comes in.
Once the post went live on Instagram, a number of people took “Sanders” to mean the Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders and did not appreciate the “endorsement.” This led many to the comments section to voice their displeasure, most of which ran along the lines of “I love you/your music, but Bernie Sanders is awful.” Following the incident, Barry Sanders and Garth Brooks have both since responded on Twitter with the NFL legend asking the singer to be his Vice President, and Brooks jokingly accepting. The mix up has also resulted in the internet creating many new memes and images of the actual Presidential hopeful playing on a football field.
Social Media Jumping To Conclusions
Even though Barry Sanders is a legendary running back and former Heisman winner, he last played in 1998, and Bernie Sanders has been in the public eye much more of late. The biggest coincidence in all of this was the number 20. While that was Barry Sanders’ number, it also happens to be the election year that Sanders is now running in. Although that coincidence dose make the misunderstanding a bit less ridiculous, it still highlights just how quick the internet can be to jump to conclusions. The more worrying aspect is just how quickly some fans appeared to turn on Brooks with comments like “he just lost a fan.”
The reality is, there was nothing pro-Bernie or even political in the words attached to Brooks’ post, and all the outrage was the result of pure speculation. Social media services can be great places that offer everyone a platform to voice their opinion, but they are not without their dangers. As seen here, facts are important and taking the time to be sure of something can save a lot of energy and anger, regardless of whether it’s the Instagram page for Garth Brooks, or anyone else.
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Source: Garth Brooks/Instagram
