SALT LAKE CITY — Friends, family, teammates and even the NAACP jumped to University of Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley's defense after a Twitter user attempted to insult his intelligence.
"Letting Tyler Huntley do a post game interview on national television is not a good look for the quality of a Utah education..." the man wrote after Utah's comeback win against the University of Washington on Saturday.
Huntley's mom responded, saying:
I usually don't post but this is very inappropriate. If you knew Tyler you'll know interviews is not his thing. Words and actions on and off the field speaks for him. Tyler has always been a honor student, all his life, elementary, middle, high school and college.
Utah receiver Britain Covey also chimed in with support for his teammate:
Graduated in 3.5 yrs, honor roll, academic all conf. honorable mention... Extremely high football IQ, extremely high emotional intelligence, the kindest person and his WHOLE TEAM would run through a brick wall for him.
Your tweet is only indicative of your education level, sir.
The original tweet is no longer available and the poster's account now appears to be deactivated or suspended. Some said he was a Utes fan. FOX 13 has chosen to not identify him.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People responded to FOX 13's request for comment on Monday, calling the tweet "disturbing, racist and derogatory."
Jeanetta Williams, the president of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch, wrote:
[The] statement does a disservice to Utah by showing his racist behavior by subtle referencing to race and intelligence as inferior education, achievement and literacy skills in speaking by Quarterback, Tyler Huntley. The NAACP Salt Lake Branch denounces Vaughan’s Tweet as wanting Huntley to do what we call as code-switching which is the concept where a Black individual must adapt to fit the expectations of White audiences to adjust his tone or speech... There is no excuse for bigotry in our state or country.
Other University of Utah players, fans, community members and countless others responded to the tweet — even BYU fans and coaches.
Huntley himself even responded, quote-tweeting the post with nothing but laughing emojis.
