During Sunday's game between the Cowboys and Giants, Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury when he was tackled by Giants cornerback Logan Ryan. Following Prescott's cringeworthy injury, fans took to Twitter to blame the Giants cornerback injuring Prescott.
One problem with throwing blame around here is that Prescott's injury was not the result of a dirty play by Logan. The other problem is that Dallas fans went after the wrong player on social media. Instead of sending messages to Ryan, fans instead incorrectly targeted former Giants running back Rashad Jennings, who, like Ryan, wore No. 23 for Big Blue.
@RashadJennings you just HAD TO tackle Dak to feel like a big man? Couldn’t just push him out of bounds, HAD TO tackle the QB and break his leg?? #mosthatedplayerof2020
— Sbreze (@Sbreze1) October 11, 2020
Not only has Jennings not played for the Giants since 2016, but even when he did he never lined up on the defensive side of the ball. Regardless of Jennings not being involved in Prescott's injury in any way, he still received enough blame that he had to call everyone out on Twitter.
"Some of y'all just simply have to do better," Jennings wrote, along with a screenshot that explains why some were blaming him for Prescott's injury.
Just like politics. People write and believe anything on the internet. Some of y’all just simply have to do better. I’m working on my next book not playing football. pic.twitter.com/DTiJYW12xU
— Rashad Jennings (@RashadJennings) October 12, 2020
The photo in Jennings' tweet showed the result of an internet search -- seemingly one for "Rashad Jennings"-- that, for some reason, featured a photo of Prescott being carted off the field and information about the QB's injury.
Also to blame for Jennings receiving blowback for the hit was an error that was published in a story about Prescott's injury. The writer ended up accidentally listing Jennings as the tackler and later apologized for the mistake.
When I posted the initial Dak story, I listed @RashadJennings as the tackler (long story). Apparently before it was corrected, Jennings (now a NYT best-selling author) was bombarded with social media hate. Lay off the guy. That's insane. And don't focus on the real tackler.
— Roy Lang III (@RoyLangIII) October 12, 2020
Ryan, who actually tackled Prescott on the fateful play, spoke out about the play and felt awful about Prescott suffering such a horrific injury.
"He was tearing it up there. He was making it hard on me. And that's why this sucks, man," Ryan said. "You got a guy who — he's scratching and clawing, one year on his deal, try to get rewarded, try to do the right thing, try to show up for work, try to lead his team, try to get a lucrative contract. And had to come out and prove it this year. And for him to get that type of injury — that's why I feel like, Dak, I hope he gets $500 million when he comes back. He deserves it. He's a helluva quarterback. That was nothing but a routine tackle, two competitors. He's trying to stiff-arm me. I'm trying to tackle him, punch the ball out."
