ABC News Gets Flak For Oddly Critical Marion Barber III Death Tweet

The former Dallas Cowboys running back died at age 38.
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By most measures, the late Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber III had a successful NFL career. He rushed for 4,780 yards and 53 touchdowns, and collected 179 receptions for 1,330 yards and six touchdowns in seven seasons ― the last of which he spent with the Chicago Bears in 2011.

But ABC News wrote a curiously negative tweet about the star, who was reportedly found dead in his apartment Wednesday after someone called police to check on his welfare. He was 38.

The outlet wrote that Barber “scored plenty of touchdowns without recording a 1,000-yard season.”

ABC News' tweet about Marion Barber III, which seems to have been deleted on Friday.
ABC News' tweet about Marion Barber III, which seems to have been deleted on Friday.
Twitter

Barber’s lesser yardage, while mentioned deep in The Associated Press article linked in ABC’s tweet, seemed to be an odd fact to highlight in an obituary headline. ABC News didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on Friday and apparently deleted the tweet.

The network’s tweet downright ticked off some fans and sports reporters, who called it insensitive and disrespectful.

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