Are you ready for some football? The moniker is famous worldwide, but not as famous as that other game of football. Soccer, as we Americans call it, is the world’s game, and some rowdy folks in Dublin, Ireland, really gave one unfortunate NFL player a rough welcome party to their country. Backup NFL Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Skylar Thompson got banged and mashed Friday evening before the game on Sunday, and no referees were there to throw a flag or a red card.
According to Bleacher Report via reporter Tom Pelissero, backup QB Skylar Johnson, on injured reserve, was out Friday night in Dublin and was jumped and robbed. A Steelers representative issued a statement, followed by one from the NFL Players Association.
We are aware of a situation involving Skylar Thompson on Friday night in Dublin. We will have no further comment at this time as we are working with NFL security to gather more information regarding the incident.
The NFLPA said the following.
We are aware of the incident involving Skylar Thompson in Ireland and are relieved to know he is okay. The NFLPA is actively gathering more information and working to understand the full circumstances surrounding what took place. As always, our priority is the health and safety of our player members โ especially as we continue to work on player protections and well-being while playing international games โ and we will continue to support Skylar in any way he needs
As you can imagine, upon hearing news that he is ok and with the team, some folks online couldn’t help but be a bit cheeky with the news, and had some pretty amusing things to say about the admittedly horrible incident.
“I sure wouldn’t go to another country to play ball. Too much happening in the world that you can’t protect the players. The juice is not worth the squeeze. By the way, how are those ratings? I know I didn’t get up to watch it.”
“Remember when they thought Mexico or Brazil would be the security problem lol”
“Probably Dolphins fans getting their money back.”
“Dollar store criminals out here robbing the backup quarterback”
As you can imagine, the NFL, with its billions of dollars, will surely increase the security detail for its players. Remember, this is a league obsessed with player safety, so let’s see if Roger Goodell and the hypocritical owners can put their money where their mouth is for once.