Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, a fan favorite for his candid presence on social media, deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts this week after a testy exchange with a follower over the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla.
Ryan deleted his accounts Sunday after appearing to get upset on Instagram over comments related to the killings at the gay nightclub Pulse, telling the follower, “You’re a terrible human being.”
@EdgeofSports did you catch the Jon Ryan story overnight? Has since deleted his accounts. Had enough pic.twitter.com/nNTUjQUUy7
— Mark O'Shea (@markoshea75) June 13, 2016
Ryan’s fiancee, comedian Sarah Colonna, confirmed that Ryan was ditching social media with a tweet of her own on Sunday.
As I watch @JonRyan9 delete his Twitter & Instagram "because people are defending a terrorist, a murderer," how can I argue. ?
— Sarah Colonna (@sarahcolonna) June 12, 2016
She responded to numerous tweets from fans of the football player who told her that they were proud of him for standing up to hate and intolerance.
I've been telling Jon about all the amazing tweets I've been getting today thanking him for not being afraid to stand for what is right. ❤️
— Sarah Colonna (@sarahcolonna) June 14, 2016
The Seattle P-I reports that Ryan and Colonna got together in part because of Twitter, saying that the two were direct messaging in the days leading up to the 2014 Super Bowl.
In Seattle with @JonRyan9 so I'm watching the stupid Mariners be good. #GoAngels? pic.twitter.com/x4RIsOD8fK
— Sarah Colonna (@sarahcolonna) June 11, 2016
Update: Ryan spoke to Seattle Times sports reporter Bob Condotta on Wednesday and said he might bring back his Twitter account, but he has no idea when.
“Right now it’s like it feels like I just got out of a bad relationship and now I’m free,” Ryan told the Times. “It’s nice to be off of there right now. … I was just angry. I just didn’t want to be a part of that anymore. I felt like if my page was helping breed hate among people, I didn’t want to be a part of that.”
The deletion of his Twitter account, in which he had tweeted more than 6,700 times to 125,000 followers, was especially ironic given that ESPN had just named Ryan the best Seahawk to follow on social media. Here’s what ESPN wrote about the 34-year-old punter:
The Seahawks are a team filled with stars, but the bigger-name players often use their Twitter accounts to promote business interests or cite inspirational quotes, which is their prerogative. The guy who has used social media the best is Ryan. He provides humor — whether it’s about his broken nose or red hair — and interacts with fans. But Ryan can discuss serious topics too. And apparently, he grew frustrated with how some of his followers reacted to the shootings in Orlando over the weekend. That caused Ryan to delete his account, according to his fiancee.
The reference to the broken nose came after the Seahawks’ wildcard playoff victory at Minnesota in January. GeekWire singled out Ryan’s tweet showing his bruised face and his references to NFL football not being the same as “Madden NFL” video games.
