After Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall suffered a concussion against the Panthers on Thursday, some people came out and admitted that they were actually glad that it happened.
Marshall became a lightning rod for controversy before the game when he decided to join Colin Kaepernick's cause and kneel for the national anthem before the Broncos' 21-20 win over Carolina.
The linebacker's decision to kneel led to a backlash against Marshall on Twitter that started in the second quarter after he suffered a concussion. After suffering the injury, Marshall took a knee, and that's when Twitter lit into him, with most people saying that he deserved the injury or that the injury was due to karma.
Here's a small sample of some of the tweets.
Kind fitting and a show of karma to see Brandon Marshall take his 2nd knee of the game...#StandForTheAnthempic.twitter.com/HkTRXJv4i8
— Michael Pettinato (@therealmikep) September 9, 2016
Brandon Marshall kneels during the National Anthem. Now he's on the ground hurt. USA Karma
— Austin Hillard (@THE_APH_3) September 9, 2016
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Karma struck Brandon Marshall down quick
— Chas Jones (@chazilllla) September 9, 2016
Brandon Marshall let me introduce you to a little thing called Karma. Don't mess with the US of A.
— Timbo J (@timboj126) September 9, 2016
And of course, there was one person who mentioned the karma train.
Brandon Marshall took a knee for the anthem, now being tested for concussion. Got hit by that karma train!
— Michael Fanelli (@FanelliIronmike) September 9, 2016
There were also people who were outwardly rooting for Marshall to be injured.
What a shame Brandon Marshall might have gotten a concussion. A little better angle and it coulda been a spinal cord injury. #Merica
— itSuLLGooD (@itSuLLGooD) September 9, 2016
Brandon Marshall back on his knee lol hope he has a concussion
— Mason Stewart (@msnstewart13) September 9, 2016
Concussion test? They need to drag that finger across Brandon Marshall's face to see if he saw the American Flag. #USA
— Scott Whitfield (@RotoRankings) September 9, 2016
Since people on Twitter generally tweet first and think later, Marshall's decision to kneel during the national anthem also led to another issue: People started tweeting to Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
@BMarshall why you no stand for anthem? Thug
— Jeff (@J_Rich96) September 9, 2016
@PatriotByGod@BMarshall@Breaking911 refuse to Watch any game that players won't stand for the flag.thats my right.
— Wire To Wire (@emptypockets57) September 9, 2016
As for Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, the good news is that he eventually cleared concussion protocol and was allowed to return to the game. The bad news is that he lost a sponsorship on Friday due to his decision to kneel during the anthem.
The Air Academy Federal Credit Union chose to cut ties with the Broncos linebacker less than 24 hours after his protest.