Over the past couple of weeks, a Twitter war has developed between Saints safety Darren Sharper and Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.
The barbs progressed to a point at which Vikings coach Brad Childress said that, at some point, he would “reel it in.”
Shiancoe now claims there’s no need to defuse the situation, telling the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the whole thing has been a joke.
Per Shiancoe, he has spoken to Sharper, who “isn’t mad at all” about the back-and-forth. “I can’t believe that anyone is falling for his nonsense,” Shiancoe said.
It could be that Shiancoe and Sharper have decided to reel it in on their own, characterizing after the fact as jokes comments that weren’t made in jest at the time. Indeed, there’s nothing about any of the comments that indicate an obvious undercurrent of humor. If anything, the words oozed animosity and hostility.
The best indicator as to whether it was a big joke will come in the future. If it’s all been done in good fun, then it should continue. We have a feeling it won’t -- which would tend to suggest that it’s being painted as fun and games after the tweet hit the fan.