Stefon Diggs spent most of his high school career being lauded as one of the nation's top football recruits. By the time the Good Counsel (Md.) School defensive star and top-10 Rivals.com overall prospect (he's projected to play wide receiver in college) picked Maryland as his college destination, he had attracted the attention of nearly every school and major football fan in the country.
With that experience in the 18-year-old's pocket, one would think that Diggs would be well versed in the threat posed by unchecked social media postings. However, as this rather offensive tweet about Jeremy Lin dug up by Larry Brown Sports proves, one would be wrong to give Diggs that benefit of the doubt.
"Jeremy Lin egg roll and dumplings"? Really Stefon? That's arguably an even more offensive version of the offensive genitalia joke first used by Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock (also on Twitter). It plays into the same stereotypes as the ESPN employees who were suspended and fired for using an offensive cliche on the air and in a headline, even though they claim they honestly didn't even think of any racially insensitive overtones before the comment and headline went live.
[Y! News: Asian American Journalists Association issues guidelines on Jeremy Lin coverage]
Of course, this is hardly the first time that a top football recruit has run afoul of the Twitter gods with rather abhorrent tweets. As documented by Prep Rally in January, top Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep prospect Yuri Wright was kicked out of his high school because of a stream of obscene tweets. He removed himself from the social media network shortly thereafter, committed to Colorado regardless of past indiscretions and then suddenly was back on Twitter again.
Another top recruit, Michigan offensive line signee Erik Magnuson, has had multiple tweets with homophobic slurs flagged in recent months, though he has so far avoided any discipline.
In fact, that may be the case with Diggs as well. While it's possible the uber-recruit could face some kind of discipline from Good Counsel administration for his offensive comment, it's equally likely that he would escape any further action at all. At least until he shows up on campus in College Park and is told that those kinds of off-the-cuff statements won't fly.
The sooner Diggs learns that, the better, both for himself and any school he's affiliated with.
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