For the second day in a row, an NFL quarterback was a major topic of discussion on social media for controversial comments. A quarterback who has yet to play a down in the league. Jake Fromm was drafted by the Buffalo Bills earlier this year from the University of Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs to three SEC championship games as well as a spot in the national championship game, according to 24/7 Sports, who added that during his time there, Fromm sent texts to a female acquaintance about who should be able to buy guns. This morning, the acquaintance released those texts to the public.
The logical first question here would be, How do we know it was Jake Fromm who sent those texts? Well, he confirmed it himself a few hours later when tweeting an apology.
Now that we’ve established that, a host of other questions can come up, like What was he thinking? Why did this woman wait so long to come forward with this? That question has been asked.
If it is him, these are from March of 2019. You just wanted to bash someone for your own attention. No respect for you ruining another person’s life for your own gain.
— Lauren Campbell (@LCblockparty) June 4, 2020
Not defending his words but why post now after a year later if “it’s the right thing to do” should have done it last March, clearly you condoned convos like this til something changed 🤭🤔
— Joe Drake (@JoeDrake716) June 4, 2020
There’s also a legal question of whether the acquaintance violated Fromm’s right to privacy by sharing the messages. It appears she has not, judging from the interpretation of U.S. law by Vinay Desai and Eloise Gratton of the law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Say Desai and Gratton, “once a transmission is sent and received by another person…that message is no longer protected” (2018, para. 11). As is said often on football telecasts when the quarterback is intercepted, that’s one throw Jake Fromm wishes he could have back. It’s also a reminder that everyone should watch what they text.