Minnesota Vikings, NFL Respond To Brutal Hate Speech Received By Alexander Mattison

Following the Thursday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, Vikings running back Alexander Mattison received some messages via social media that went well beyond normal frustration fans felt about the 34-28 loss to the Eagles.

Mattison was one of a handful of Vikings players during the Thursday Night game against the Eagles that was responsible for one of the team's four turnovers in the loss. Frustration from a few fans boiled over to a level being condemned by the Vikings and the NFL after Mattison shared screenshots of comments from these individuals on social media.

Mattison shared some screenshots on his Instagram story after the game, with messages sent to him including racist language and one suggesting he commit suicide. An editor for the online publication BroBible captured some screenshots of some of these messages and shared them on X.

On Friday afternoon, both the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL shared messages condemning the messages sent to Mattison.

The social media post from the Vikings explained that the team was sickened by the hatered and racial slurs directed toward Mattison, saying "there simply is no room for racist words or actions in sports or society." The message (which you can see in full below) concluded with a message asking fans "to continue to fight to eliminate racism".

Minutes after the message was shared by the Vikings, the NFL's official social media posted a message that strongly condemned the racial comments directed toward Mattison. They called the behavior "completely unacceptable" and reminded fans of "the humanity of all players".

While it can be easy to be frustrated as a fan about an 0-2 start and a number of disappointing plays that include multiple turnovers (involving a number of Vikings players), it is beyond me how someone can feel so strongly that you'd launch such a disgusting personal attack.