FRISCO, Texas – Here's a perfect example of the social media news cycle.
On Tuesday morning, a video of DeMarcus Lawrence denying an autograph to a young fan went viral, sparking plenty of debate about how he handled the situation.
By Wednesday afternoon, Lawrence was wrapping up a wild 24 hours from his seat in the Cowboys' locker room.
"It kind of shocked me. I don't think that was the first time I told somebody 'Hey bro, you've got the wrong jersey, get you a new jersey,'" he said. "Tell your parents, for Christmas, you need a DeMarcus Lawrence – I mean, we've got more people on the Cowboys. We've got Jaylon Smith, we've got plenty – Dak Prescott. So you choose. It don't have to be a DeMarcus Lawrence jersey, but we like the Silver and Blue."
True to his nature, Lawrence has joked through the entire episode, offering some useful perspective on the situation. But he did apologize to the young Giants fan for what most perceived as a dismissive attitude.
"I think what really turned people the wrong way is that I really wasn't paying no attention and the sadness on the kid's face," he said. "I apologize to the kid. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. But things happen in life."
In a fitting bit of timing, Lawrence actually gave back to the youth in his community Tuesday night, after the video went viral. The All-Pro pass rusher donated backpacks and school supplies to more than 90 kids in the Frisco area.
However strange the past 24 hours might have been on social media, it didn't seem to affect Lawrence's trademark sense of humor.
"Social media is for people to engage with others. So if it's negative or positive, they still want to engage – you know what I mean," he said. "It's whatever people want to do on social media. I don't try to go in too much with it, but just know: D-Law loves the kids. Don't take too much offense with it, and it is what it is."
