Getty Bills safety Jordan Poyer on January 03, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York.
Nearly four months ago, shortly after the Buffalo Bills made the surprise move to re-sign safety Jordan Poyer, fans were quick to notice the veteran had suddenly deleted his Twitter account.
One person reached out to his wife, Rachel Bush, to ask why. Bush tweeted on April 10, “He doesn’t like all the weird vibes & negativity many spew daily and I don’t blame him 😅 much more peaceful without the nonsense ..”
While discussing the backlash and strong reactions to his canceled Celebrity Open golf tournament, which was scheduled to take place at Trump National Doral on July 10, Poyer opened up about the decision to deactivate his Twitter account. The 32-year-old told The Buffalo News in an article published on Thursday, June 29 that the move wasn’t just for his mental health. He blamed the social media app for the series of physical injuries he suffered last season.
The Pro Bowler checked out Twitter “every single morning” and read all the negative comments about him being too old and/or fans urging the Bills to replace him during free agency.
“Your mind is a tool that your body believes,” Poyer said. “If you believe in something in your mind, (then) your cells, everything in your body starts to believe it. It’s energy, so you’re putting your energy into that negative mindset. Your body starts to believe that. Then look what happened: Boom, I pop my elbow. Boom, I break my ribs. Boom, I have a foot (injury). My body was really believing I was getting too old.”
Last season, Poyer appeared in 12 games, recording 63 tackles, four interceptions, and one forced fumble.
Jordan Poyer Vows to Keep Speaking Out
GettyBills safety Jordan Poyer #21 runs a drill before a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Highmark Stadium on August 13, 2022.
Poyer remains active on Instagram, where the comments section is no less divided regarding his canceled event. However, the former seventh-round pick from the 2013 NFL Draft promises to keep speaking out. “This game is allowing me to have a platform and have a voice that a lot of others don’t have and won’t (use). I’m not going to be afraid of it. I’m not going to run from it,” he told the outlet.
Poyer also lamented, “There’s nothing nice going on. People don’t know how to be nice. It’s crazy to me that we’re in a position that we are. I honestly wanted to use this just to strike the conversation, and let people really see, this is where we are in America, and if we don’t fix it soon…” trailing off without finishing his thought.
Jordan Poyer ‘Knew’ Canceling the Event Would Cause a Stir
While Avalon Sports wrote in an official statement regarding the cancelation of the Celebrity Open that they were “sadly surprised by the negative comments by some individuals trying to make this a political battle and continue to divide our community,” Poyer knew canceling the event would kickstart a controversial debate.
“I knew the entire time what I was doing,” he told The Buffalo News, later adding, “It was going to start a conversation.”
“Everything was moving smoothly (with the golf tournament) and then all of a sudden, obviously the indictments started to come out with Trump, whatever that means.” Earlier this month, Trump became the first former president to face federal criminal charges. Between being charged with 71 felony counts, and being found liable by a jury in May for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, per AP News, many people struggled to get on board for an event on a property Trump’s company owns.
While Poyer said in his video that the Erie County Medical Center Foundation, the charity the tournament would’ve benefited is “on the political spectrum, where New York is on the political spectrum,” suggesting ECMC tilted left, as a 501©(3) nonprofit organization, they “are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign,” as stated by the IRS, or they can lose their tax-exempt status.
At the moment, it’s unknown which sponsors or golfers dropped out. While Poyer called ECMC a “sponsor” of the golf tournament, the Foundation’s executive director Susan Gonzalez clarified in a statement on June 24 that they were only a “beneficiary” of the event. “Although the Foundation was not a sponsor, we have had an excellent partnership with Jordan and we respect his decision to cancel his tournament. We hope he will consider supporting us in his future events.”