Jones publicly apologises to Sam for his remarks on Twitter.
The Miami Dolphins have fined second-year defensive back Don Jones and have excused him from the team after he made critical remarks towards Michael Sam.
Sam became the first openly gay athlete to be drafted into the NFL on Saturday, and Jones took to Twitter and tweeted “OMG” and “horrible” while footage was shown of Sam receiving the news and being congratulated by his boyfriend.
Jones has since deleted those tweets, but that wasn’t enough to prevent a meeting with Dolphins management who ruled that he must undergo educational training before he can return to the team.
“I want to apologize to Michael Sam for the inappropriate comments that I made last night on social media,” Jones said, as reported by ESPN.
“I take full responsibility for them and I regret that these tweets took away from his draft moment. I remember last year when I was drafted in the seventh round and all of the emotions and happiness I felt when I received the call that gave me an opportunity to play for an NFL team and I wish him all the best in his NFL career.”
Jones was drafted by the Dolphins in the seventh round in 2013 and was one of the team’s top special teams players whilst finishing with 10 tackles last season.
However, he is the second Miami player in the past few days to make controversial statements on social media with team-mate Mike Pouncey shutting down his Twitter account after tweeting “I can’t wait for our gifts he’s getting us” in relation to the Dolphins drafting Ja’Wuan James on Thursday.
The Pro Bowl center made the comment in poor taste after the controversy last season over the bullying scandal involving Jonathan Martin, and after a meeting with the Dolphins’ management he deactivated his account.
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