Earlier this week rumors on Reddit surfaced suggesting that Detroit Lions running back D’Andre Swift was a suspect in a murder that took place in Philadelphia.
It was a far cry from what the 22-year-old had previously been in the news for.
In response, multiple reporters attempted to address the issue while staying respectful to the fact that there was no hard evidence suggesting Swift’s involvement in any such matter.
It all began with this Twitter post:
@AllbrightNFL Hey Ben, you got anything on the DeAndre Swift rumor?
— Sudden (@SuddenRadV2) September 9, 2021
NFL insider Benjamin Allbright addressed the situation with delicacy.
There’s a lot of stuff going around.
To my knowledge he is not a suspect, there were some tips turned in allegedly implicating Swift, but so far PD says not a suspect. https://t.co/lKWfP1NQc9
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) September 9, 2021
An NFL Fantasy Football expert by the name of Dave Kluge then attempted to take it one step further:
I just called the Philly PD and spoke with an officer in the Commissioner’s Office.
There was an anonymous tip that came in via Tipline over 2 months ago that implicated D’Andre Swift in a murder. The officer said that Swift is not being investigated at this time.
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) September 9, 2021
There was a Reddit post two days ago that started these rumors. The accusations found their way to Twitter this morning and picked up steam.
My intention was not to draw attention to this situation or defame Swift’s character, but to clear his name.
Proof of call (MST): pic.twitter.com/NGdH90Lowk
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) September 9, 2021
In a statement to the media on Thursday, running backs coach Duce Staley revealed that Swift was not under any sort of restrictions heading into Sunday’s outing against the San Francisco 49ers.
“I’m very bad at counting reps,” he said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “If he’s out there being productive, ‘What number is it Duce?’ ‘Three.’ It could be play 49. I don’t know how to take (a productive running back) off. I get caught up in the game, he’s going to get caught up in the game and every good player, every good running back that I know, anyway, once you start feeling it, you don’t want to pull him off. We can count the reps Monday.”
Obviously that doesn’t sound like a coach who is concerned about his player being implicated in a murder investigation.
Of course, that didn’t stop social media from weighing in:
D’Andre Swift is really gonna kill it on Sunday pic.twitter.com/g069NGXy91
— Erick (@erick_perez46) September 9, 2021
D’Andre Swift leaving the practice facility pic.twitter.com/5Oqa0jQPTA
— joshmcclurg (@joshfmcclurg) September 9, 2021
Clearly anything is possible and, at this point, nothing an NFL player does would be that shocking – but it seems like there’s no fire to this smoke. At least not yet.
The Lions were supposed to be involved in a massive, four-team deal earlier in the offseason that could’ve drastically changed their fortunes. Instead, they merely went out and swapped Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff. Because of that, Swift is likely going to shoulder a much bigger offensive burden than anyone originally expected.
Will these rumors distract him from taking care of business in the way he needs to? Time will tell.
A fan was deeply offended by her wardrobe because it was too revealing. https://t.co/EWntvEgC3r
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 9, 2021
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
