‘We just need to stand together as one': Ogbah, victim of racist online attack, seeks unity

MIAMI GARDENS — Like many athletes, Dolphins defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah has been a victim of online abuse before. But the racist message waiting for him after Sunday’s loss was one he couldn’t ignore. He fired back on Instagram, calling it “uncalled for.”

“I just wanted to show those keyboard warriors, you can’t really do that,” Ogbah said Thursday in his first public comments since the episode. “We’re still humans at the end of the day.”

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A student at the University of Rhode Island is facing disciplinary action for his racist language. The university president condemned the student’s post, which Ogbah saw following the 23-20 loss to Jacksonville in London.

“It was definitely after a tough loss and seeing that pissed me off,” said Ogbah, who later deleted his response to avoid causing a distraction to the team.

Ogbah is 6-feet-4 and 275 pounds. He said part of the reason he was upset was, “I know you can’t come to my face like that.”

Athletes across the spectrum have been online targets, including three Black players on England’s national team who missed penalty kicks in a shootout loss during this summer’s European Championship. Among those supporting those players, however, was actor Jason Sudeikis, who wore a shirt with the three players’ names at the season premiere of his series, “Ted Lasso.”

“I think we just need to stand together as one,” Ogbah said. “If you see your friend or somebody you know doing that, say something. Don’t just ignore it just because that’s your buddy or your family member. Just say something about it because it affects everybody.”

That’s online and on the street.

“I know I strive to be a better human every day and I just hope the world strives to be better as a society because we’re all the same,” Ogbah said. “We all bleed the same. We’re just different colors. That’s all.”