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Philadelphia Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell went viral in Week 8's win over the Washington Commanders after a halftime exchange between him and a fan on Instagram blew up.
The move also blew up in the face of Gainwell, who was criticized for responding during the game. He opened up about the incident at his locker on Friday.
“Just a wrong click and I just got mad because I was already upset with myself fumbling right before halftime,” the 24-year-old explained, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Reuben Frank. “So it was just the heat of the moment. I always look at my phone at halftime. I either text my parents or text my girlfriend. It’s just a thing I do.”
Heading into the locker room at halftime, Gainwell had fumbled the ball inside the Commanders 5-yard-line, on a drive that should have resulted in a Philadelphia touchdown earlier in the quarter.
The Mississippi native was upset about the play, leading to him responding to an Instagram post from an Eagles fan with the caption, “Hold on to the football you f**king bum.”
Gainwell's response: “Lil boy don't text me.”
Gainwell, Sirianni reflected on incident
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Gainwell confirmed that he and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni discussed how to properly respond to angry fans online, and he admitted he had learned from the situation.
“Basically just understanding that it was something that I shouldn't have done because I'm a public figure and I take that responsibility,” he explained.
“Just taking the stand for it and just understanding that I’ve got to be better. Nowadays, our whole life is based off social media so it's kind of tough for us, but you’ve got to kind of look past the negativity and continue to just show love for the fans that really do care about you.”
Despite the unfortunate incident, it's clear that Kenneth Gainwell will not make that sort of mistake again.
“I mean, that's going to always happen,” he said about online criticism. “That's going to always happen. We can't control that. Everybody's going to have an opinion. So it's what they’ve got to say. [What’s important] is how we respond. We're supposed to [not] respond back to that.”
Although it's been a disappointing season for Gainwell, who is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, the Eagles remain 7-1 and he continues to do his job as a red-zone specialist.
