Englishwoman Named Dee Ford Inundated With Tweets After Chiefs Player's Blunder
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CBS/AP) -- A 47-year-old Englishwoman has seen the best and worst that Twitter would have to offer the Kansas City Chiefs player who shares her name.
Dee Ford, of Kent, England, told the Kansas City Star that her "phone was going off literally nonstop" due to angry tweets from Chiefs fans who thought they were venting at linebacker Dee Ford following his critical late penalty in last weekend's AFC Championship loss to the New England Patriots. She says Ford "doesn't deserve" the vitriol.
The player isn't on Twitter, but he was no stranger to the Englishwoman. Five years ago, when the player was still at Auburn, someone in the school's athletic department tagged the woman in a congratulatory tweet after the player was named most valuable player of the senior bowl. Fans responded with their own positive tweets.
She decided to learn a about the game and was hooked. She has spoken to the Chiefs' Dee Ford by phone and attended two games -- an Auburn home game last fall and a Chiefs game in London in 2015.
Though the Dee Ford who doesn't play football saw her fair share of vitriol directed at the Chiefs player following Sunday's game, she also saw plenty of messages showing support.
"I just wanted to say, that over the past week, I have had the kindest, funniest, most wonderful tweets. Despite the nasty ones, the nice ones have far outweighed them," she tweeted, adding "I've felt more hugged in the virtual world than ever. I'm very glad to count myself as one of you. I can't speak for Dee, but if I could, I'm sure he'd be proud to know his #au values speak volumes from every one of you."
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has prompted a similar issue in the past. On Election Day in 2016, a rugby player for the Leicester Tigers named Tom Brady was inundated with tweets after Donald Trump told a crowd in New Hampshire that the New England Patriots star called the candidate to say he had voted for him.
Brady - the Patriots quarterback - doesn't have a Twitter account.
WBZ-TV's Eric Fisher has a similar story as well. Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher had a key holding penalty in 2017, and tweets began flooding in to the chief meteorologist rather than the football player.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
