SB Nation Deletes Racist Article Full Of Jokes About Domestic Violence
One unfortunate side effect of having thousands of lowly paid people running a network of hundreds of team sites that drive traffic for a billion-dollar company, is that there’s not a whole lot of time for proper editorial vetting. This problem has manifested itself at SB Nation on numerous occasions, and it’s happened again today with this work of “satire,” written by Tyler Smith, the now-former deputy editor of the Raiders team site, Silver and Black Pride.
The roast-style blog, which was deleted a shortly after I reached out to SB Nation executive director John Ness for comment, had a disclosure at the top telling the reader that it was satire. (Smith was also removed from the site’s masthead shortly after I contacted SB Nation about the article.) The post itself ran the gamut from straightforward insults (“putrid, unwashed, maladjusted bunch of chickenhead scallawags known as the Denver Broncos”), and basic fat jokes (“[Andy Reid’s] so fat, I walked around him and got lost”) to racism (“[Tyreek Hill] is so small and black, if you squeeze him really hard he’ll turn into a diamond”).
Smith got a lot of mileage out of Tyreek Hill, who is accused of hurting his child and threatening his fianceé:
Seriously, has there ever been a bigger violent douchebag than Tyreek Hill? He’s punched more women than Cyborg Santos. He’s hurt more arms than Tommy John.
And:
Jon Gruden knows how to game plan against the Chiefs. Hit them early and often! Hit them while they’re down! Break their spirit! Oh, wait. That’s not Gruden’s game plan, that’s Tyreek Hill’s Guide to Parenting.
And:
Kansas City likes their beer like they like their violence: Domestic.
And:
The Chiefs are a lot like smoking, they’re dangerous to children and pregnant women. The Chiefs have employed in recent years Tyreek Hill, who beats up his family, Eric Berry, who beat the shit out of cancer, and Kareem Hunt, who is currently with the Browns but suspended for the unique way he dealt with a young thot at a casino hotel.
At one point, Smith abandoned whatever humor there is to be found in domestic violence in favor of racism:
Tyreek doesn’t even look that imposing though. He’s so small and black, if you squeeze him really hard he’ll turn into a diamond. Watch out though, because the tarantula that lives on his head might push you down some stairs.
He also says this about Antonio Brown:
The Raiders were a galvanized unit, ready to prove themselves in front of a crowd which cared less about the game and more about shouting curse words at Antonio Brown. I’m not sure Brown understood them, because English clearly isn’t his first language and I’m not convinced he speaks or reads or writes it at all.
The problem here isn’t just one dumbass blogger throwing up ill-advised posts like it’s 2003; it’s the system, put in place by SB Nation and Vox Media, that encourages people to publish what they want, with little oversight, in an effort to drive traffic for the company. After the post was deleted, an SB Nation spokesman sent the following statement to Deadspin, “This post violated our Community Guidelines and has been removed.”
Anyway, $10 says Smith will be writing for Barstool in a few weeks.