Raheem Mostert's wife pleads with fans over 'thousands' of 'heartless' social media messages after knee injury
Raheem Mostert's wife says she was inundated with hateful social media messages after the San Francisco 49ers running back was sidelined on Sunday with a knee injury.
Mostert left Sunday's win over the Detroit Lions after two carries and did not return. He was placed on injured reserve on Monday and is expected to miss eight weeks with chipped knee cartilage, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
According to his wife Devon Mostert, fans sent her "HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS" of direct messages on Sunday that included telling her that Raheem should "kill himself" and "be cut." She pleaded with fans to cease the "heartless" commentary in an Instagram post late Sunday.
"It's days like today where I truly contemplate never getting on social media again," Devon wrote. " As if today wasn't hard enough, to get on here and have dms about how my husband should kill himself, about how he should be cut, about how he's made of glass. I know I shouldn't care, but wow. Wow wow wow."
Who's sending 'nasty' messages?
Mostert, 29, is in his seventh NFL season and his fifth with the 49ers. After a breakout 2019 campaign during San Francisco's NFC championship season, he missed eight games last season with an injury and is scheduled to miss more this season. He was widely drafted as a starting running back on fantasy football teams.
Devon pleaded with followers to recognize the reality of Mostert's situation rather than their own concerns as fans.
"The nasty things some of you just carelessly say is gut wrenching," Devon continued. "I don't think y'all get it. Football is my husband's job. It's how my family EATS. To read such HEARTLESS and degrading comments about the person I LOVE hurts. And I try to shake them off... I do."
Mostert is far from the first athlete to draw abusive outrage from fans on social media. American tennis player Sloane Stephens wrote earlier in September that she received more than 2,000 "messages of abuse/anger" from fans after her third-round loss at the US Open. Soccer players are regularly targeted with racist and hateful messaging on social media in addition to fan abuse from the stands.
