“Internet culture has ruined real life”

Jason Kelce found himself in the middle of a viral confrontation over the weekend while in State College for the Ohio State-Penn State game. The acclaimed podcaster and ESPN commentator was walking down the street when he was heckled from behind by someone who directed a homophobic slur in his direction. Kelce then turned around, grabbed the perpetrator’s phone and hurled it through the Earth’s mantle.

Everyone saw the clip and Kelce apologized sincerely last night before starting his Monday night countdown Tasks.

It’s the kind of celebrity catnip that allows for a million different opinions, and yet the internet was overwhelmingly on Kelce’s side in this case.

Chris Long spoke at length about the situation when he was a guest on Kevin Clark This is football and his comments are worth considering.

“I think the world now is all about influence,” Long said. “Point. It is difficult even for a media representative not to fall into these traps. Everyone is looking for influence. This is the quickest way to get my five minutes of fame. The guy who got the phone wouldn’t have been there. The fact is, it seems like the whole internet has turned against this guy… Nowadays, a kid getting slapped might say, “Hey, Look what I did, I got punched in the face by Jason Kelce.”

“Internet culture has ruined real life and there are too many people who grew up in situations where they never got punched in the face,” Long continued. “And I’m not saying that’s a requirement for being an adult, but I’m pretty sure that guy never got punched in the face.”

Long makes a good point. If you get hit in the face or have your phone destroyed because of its contents, that still means you got slapped or need to go to the phone store. And neither is much fun.

If anything positive comes out of all this, it is that we all seem to agree where the line is and agree that it has been crossed. Small victory.