Cam Heyward blamed his booty.
No, seriously.
Moments after Heyward pressed retweet, he regretted his decision…
Not the best look for Heyward, to be certain. The Steelers just suffered a historically bad loss, 38-3, to the Bills, dropping to 1-4 in the process, and Heyward retweeted that little diddy right there.
That’s not what you want to see from your defensive captain…
… which is fine, because Heyward explained what really happened in a follow-up tweet:
Disregard the my last retweet. That was a butt retweet 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️ dum dum cam
— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) October 10, 2022
No way.
Heyward went to the “butt retweet” defense?
Not the best look for Heyward (redux).
Let’s be clear: Heyward did not “butt retweet” that tweet. To do so would be impossible.
In this scenario, let’s say Heyward puts his phone in his back pocket unlocked with the Twitter app open. Now, he sits down, and the pressure just so happens to touch the screen properly to press “retweet” and then confirm retweet with a second precise press of the buttcheek. That second press is crucial because Twitter asks if you want to quote retweet or standard retweet. This was a standard retweet, so Heyward’s behind must’ve confirmed the decision for him.
Yeah, nobody’s buying that. It’s not our first day with a smartphone.
That said, Heyward’s awful explanation did generate some hilarious responses. My favorite one is right here:
Cam Heyward’s phone just trying to simply exist: pic.twitter.com/08VIc4aHKT
— Joe Frick (@joefrk) October 10, 2022
I mean, that’s just perfection. The internet remains undefeated, friends.
All the comedy doesn’t change the fact that Heyward’s excuse was trash. And I think he knew it, because he followed up shortly after with this one:
Ok let me be clear when I say that was a complete accident. I challenge myself to be better and don’t look to point the finger. These losses I take personal and I need to be better. My head coach and teammates are the ones I care about. I’m on to Tampa see ya Sunday.
— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) October 10, 2022
See, there’s sincerity. There’s the veteran leadership you expect from Heyward.
So let’s talk about what really happened there.
Either Heyward didn’t fully read the tweet and focused solely on the part praising his hustle or somebody else with access to his Twitter account retweeted it.
Here’s the thing: Both of those options are totally fine.
This isn’t the first nor last time a social media handler goofed for a high-profile client if the latter is indeed the case here. If it’s the former, well, yeah, Heyward probably should read the things he’s retweeting more carefully. But that second part was super complimentary of his game. It’s easy to see why he’d want to boost that message.
In the end, you have to consider the source.
Heyward is not only one of the best players to suit up for the Steelers in the last 20 years, but he’s also by all accounts one of the best people to ever wear the black and gold.
His foundation, the Heyward House, makes a dramatic and positive impact on kids in the community. He was the Steelers’ 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. The list goes on (and on and on).
That, coupled with the fact Heyward is a multiple-time All-Pro and a captain of this Steelers team, means No. 97 doesn’t need to make excuses. He doesn’t need to hide from anything, and he certainly doesn’t need to fall behind the ole “butt retweet” defense.
Just own it as you’re owning these losses, Mr. Heyward.
That’s the type of leadership this struggling Steelers squad needs right now.