FLORHAM PARK, NJ — New York Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson posted a profanity-laced Snapchat video to teammate Rontez Miles’ account before the team’s loss to Miami on Saturday.
“Snapchat takeover gang gang in this bitch,” Richardson said into the camera. “You know, pregame s—t. Where them hoes at, though? Don’t f with this guy [Miles].”
On Tuesday, Richardson addressed the matter, which has bothered some fans. Does he have any regrets?
“Do I regret it? It getting out, that’s about it,” Richardson said. “I don’t regret saying it. I was having fun with a friend. I mean, y’all have sent videos inappropriately to y’all friends, too.
“I just play football, at the end of the day. I have fun. I sit back and relax and crack jokes and talk about stuff like that to people. That’s how I deal with my friendships and stuff like that. That’s just how it is.”
Jets coach Todd Bowles, who has two teenage sons, wasn’t thrilled with Richardson’s word usage. He disciplined the player but declined to elaborate on any punishment.
“[The incident] won’t happen again,” Bowles said. “We don’t condone it. We never condone it. I am disappointed. I’m disappointed anytime we do anything off the field that affects the team.”
While Bowles expressed disappointment at Richardson’s language, he thinks the media might be blowing this a little out of proportion.
“He didn’t go out and rob a bank; he didn’t shoot anybody,” Bowles said. “He said two foul words on Snapchat. In the day of Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, anything you say in the line of business we are in [can be] detrimental to the team. We don’t condone it. We don’t want it. It was a mistake on his part. He understands that. He was remorseful. We handled it internally.”
Richardson, a talented defensive lineman, is a free agent after this season. His behavior off-the-field will likely cost him money when he hits the open market.
Aside from “Snapchat-gate,” Richardson was suspended four games for testing positive for pot in 2015. He was also suspended for the 2016 season opener following a 2015 arrest in St. Louis for leading police on a high-speed chase.
But he will get a job. Three-hundred-pound men as athletic as Richardson are rare, and some team would love to have him for his on-the-field prowess. He’s a very good player.
But his off-the-field behavior is probably going to cost him millions in his next contract.
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