‘I would never offend anyone’: NFL champ Carlton Davis forced to ‘retire word’ after being told to apologize over anti-Asian slur

Super Bowl winner Carlton Davis has been caught up in a racism row after posting an anti-Asian slur on social media – with some critics refusing to "buy" his apology despite his confession that he did not know what the word meant.

In a now-deleted tweet, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback wrote: "Gotta stop letting g***s in Miami".

Several readers had already taken screenshots by the time Davis removed the ill-fated post, leading the 24-year-old to receive a backlash for his outburst once it became wider-known. 

In his defense, Davis claimed that the offensive term is used to refer to someone who is "lame" in Miami, where he grew up.

"I would never offend any group of people," he explained later, pointing to the definition of the turm in online slang oracle Urban Dictionary.

"You reporters can look for another story to blow up. The term was directed towards a producer claiming he 'ran' Miami.

"With that being said, I’ll retire that word from my vocabulary, given the hard times our Asian family are enduring. I used a term that from where I come from has always meant 'lame' but I did not realize it has a much darker, negative connotation.

"I have learned a valuable lesson and want to apologize to anyone that was offended by seeing that word because we need to focus on helping each other."

Some accepted his apology. "You’re good, my dude," one supporter told Davis. "I’m Asian and I didn’t even know what it meant."

Issuing a formal statement, the Asian American Journalists Association Sports Task Force seemed to take Davis' explanation at face value.

"Earlier today, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Carlton Davis posted a tweet that included a derogatory term historically used to refer to Asians in the early 1900s," it began.

"The Asian American Journalists Association Sports Task Force is disappointed by his sentiment, especially at a time when Asians in the United States are experiencing a sharp increase in anti-Asian hate which has resulted in harassment and attacks.

"We also acknowledge Davis’ apology and look forward to seeing how he will help the affected communities."

Others, however, were less impressed. "I'm not buying it," scoffed one detractor. "G**k is not synonymous with “loser”. It’s clearly a racial slur and nothing else. The word f*g, sure, it is common for it to be used in a politically incorrect way to mean 'loser'.

"Never heard of anyone using “g**k” to mean loser. Ineffective attempt to deflect."

This is the second time in recent months that a member of the Bucs team has been caught up in a row after being accused of speaking offensively. 

In the aftermath of their Super Bowl LV clash, Tyrann Mathieu, of the beaten Kansas City Chiefs, claimed that quarterback Tom Brady called him something he refused to repeat.

Brady reached out to 'Honey Badger' and apologized while calling him the "ultimate competitor". The furor has since died down, with no evidence found of the supposed slur by Brady, who was wearing a microphone.