Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams picked a rather inopportune time to opine on Peyton Manning's final season in the NFL -- like the day Manning announced his retirement from the league after nearly 20 years.
He then appeared on ESPN's Mike & Mike Tuesday morning to place everything in the proper context.
"Well, see, this is the thing and this is what I love about social media," Williams said. "We have the freedom of speech, but it was completely taken out of context because I was having a conversation with (CBS analyst) Pete Prisco. He tweeted 'I was just watching film of Manning throwing for 340 yards in a game and he's still got it.' And I tweeted back at him 'I don't know what film you're watching, but it's time for him to retire.'
"And then we were going back and forth, and that's when I said -- within the conversation -- and that's what led headlines the next day. But I didn't choose that day, because I was out of the country, I was in Egypt for nine days and had no idea that he was actually retiring the day I returned, and I wasn't going to hold my tongue."
He added: "Just because a person is accomplished and has accolades doesn't mean you can't speak your mind about them."
It's an odd, jumbled story. Williams was going back and forth with Prisco, but it's hard to imagine him seeing that many NFL-related tweets and not coming across the news of Manning's retirement somewhere. Either way, credit goes to Williams who actually went on to a major TV and radio program to defend his stance.
"No. Absolutely not," Williams said when asked if he would wait a day to tweet his thoughts if he had a second chance. "This is what I've learned, and I may be a little bias, but I lost my mom a couple years ago, and when I lost her my world stopped, but what I found out was that everyone else's world kept going. So it doesn't matter if I said it that day or the day after or the day before, our worlds continue going."
UPDATED: It sounds like Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is rooting for this to end:
