Yesterday, Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade pissed a lot of people off when he made a reference to the World Trade Center collapsing on September 11, 2001 as a point of comparison to the pressure his team will face when they lose. Wade was badly misquoted, but still, it's pretty bad P.R. for an athlete to compare something that tragic to a challenge they face in their craft.
Inspired by this slip, Deadspin is putting together a list of all the terrible 9/11 references sports figures have made over the years. Here in our nation's capital, it's only fitting that we have one to add to the list, one that Nationals fans may remember.
Back in 2005, the Nationals had a bit of an epidemic when people started breaking into the cars of some of the players when they were parked at RFK Stadium. The security group clearly wasn't doing their job, and the players got pissed. However, nobody got more pissed than Nationals outfielder Marlon Byrd. While many of his teammates had to deal with cars that got broken into, Byrd unfortunately had to deal with his Escalade being stolen.
In response, here's what he told The Washington Times back then:
"[This happening to] a major league baseball team in Washington, D.C., after September 11? It makes no sense," said an extremely upset Byrd. "There was major league security when I was in [Philadelphia]. You had a guy sitting out there the whole time."
There you have it. Uncomfortable athlete 9/11 references can happen in our Nation's Capital after all.
(HT: John Taylor).