Threatening tweet gets team security involved
TAMPA — Buccaneers team security is investigating a threatening tweet directed at general manager Jason Licht.
But the man responsible for the Twitter post and who identified himself as Mike Rogers, 38, of Houston said he was upset with the Bucs’ selections in the NFL draft this past week and meant no harm.
“Yes, that was a total exaggeration,” Rogers said Sunday when reached by the Tampa Bay Times. “Just caught up in the moment. It was just a tasteless tweet. I’m not a psychopath.”
Licht said he was aware of the tweet but had no comment. The tweet had been removed late Sunday after the Times contacted Rogers.
On Friday night, shortly after the Bucs selected North Carolina defensive back M.J. Stewart with the No. 53 overall pick in the second round, Rogers posted a series of angry tweets, including one that appeared to cross the line.
The tweet featured a GIF of a murder scene from the 1990
“Just caught up in the moment. It was just a tasteless tweet.” Mike Rogers on his tweet directed at GM Jason Licht
film “King of New York: depicting a drug lord killing a New York City Police Department narcotics officer with blood splattering inside the vehicle.
Rogers, using his Twitter handle @LuvDemNoles22, wrote above the GIF: “When I see Jason Licht next time I roll through Tampa.”
Fans often use GIFs from movie scenes, TV shows and animation to exaggerate their reaction to everyday events. The exaggeration is generally meant to be funny or express emotion, but it isn’t always received that way.
Licht, 47, presided over his fifth NFL draft as Bucs GM during the weekend.
On Thursday in the first round of the draft, the Bucs traded down with the Bills from No. 7 overall to No. 12 and selected University of Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea. The other player who had been linked to the Bucs in many mock drafts, Florida State safety Derwin James, was still available when they chose Vea.
Rogers said he would’ve preferred for the Bucs to have taken James.
“I wanted [Quenton] Nelson really bad, but then he went off right before us,” Rogers said, referring to the former Notre Dame guard taken No. 6 overall by the Colts. “Then we traded back. James was still there and a huge position of need. I mean we have [Chris] Conte back, and he’s a huge liability in my opinion. I also think James not working out for teams hurt his stock, but I don’t blame him. They have tape and combine to go off of.”
Rogers said he grew up in Naples and has been a Florida State football fan since the ’80s. “To be honest, I first started liking them as a kid because they were Indians doing a war chant, and it just kind of stuck,” Rogers said.