BEREA, Ohio -- Damarious Randall wasn't worried that much about his bank account on Wednesday. In fact, his tweet promising to buy jerseys for anyone who retweeted him if the Cavs win the Finals got him excited about what's coming this fall.
"I didn't think the tweet would go as viral as it did," Randall said. "That just kind of goes to show that this Cleveland fan base is great. I'm actually excited about it 'cause just to know that the fan base is like this I just really can't imagine how it's going to be once the Browns start winning a lot of games here."
Viral might be putting it lightly. The tweet has blown up so much that he's not even sure what the retweet count is up to.
"My phone freezes every time I go on Twitter, so I would have to ask one of my teammates," Randall said. "(They're) kind of telling me about it."
Let's back up, quickly.
This all started when Randall, a Steph Curry fan, tweeted on Monday night that if the Cavaliers beat the Warriors in the Finals, he would buy everyone who retweets it a jersey. As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the tweet had blown past 770,000 retweets and was barreling towards 800,000. One million seems inevitable at this point. According to ProFootballTalk, it is the most retweeted tweet by an NFL player ever.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers win the 2018 NBA finals I'll buy everyone who retweet's this a jersey... -- Damarious Randall (@RandallTime) May 29, 2018
Randall was drawn to Curry dating back to Curry's days at Davidson. Curry has overcome repeated ankle injuries and was underestimated coming into the NBA. Randall could relate.
What he didn't relate, though, is how much Cavaliers fans, who make up a good chunk of his new fan base, dislike the two-time MVP and his team. Also how badly people want jerseys.
"I think what Damarious found out is that there's a lot of passionate Cleveland fans here and you've got to be careful about what you say," head coach Hue Jackson said.
Jackson found that out the hard way, too. He'll jump in Lake Erie on Friday because of a promise he made.
"I think (Randall) found out that, hey, look, in this city it's about the Cavaliers and LeBron James," Jackson said, "and that's the way we all talk about it."
In the interest of equal time, Randall tweeted out a few days earlier that James "better win MVP."
He better win MVP https://t.co/HBzcOgDNXB -- Damarious Randall (@RandallTime) May 29, 2018
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor poked some fun at Randall while he was waiting his turn at the podium, but said there's a lesson to learned from something like this.
"I don't think it hit him at the time because it's just you using your phone," Taylor said, "but you don't really realize the impact that you have. As a professional athlete, people are always watching, always critiquing, just a lesson learned, I'm sure."
Taylor was actually a victim of Randall's pro-Warriors tweets when he quote-tweeted his quarterback, who had written "Let's go Cavs" following their Game 7 win over Boston, by responding, "You a Cavs fan now" with crying laughing emojis.
Taylor said on Wednesday when asked about that response that he's a basketball fan.
"I like 'Bron, I like what the Cavs are doing," Taylor said, "I like Golden State, like Houston, like I said, I'm a fan of basketball."
More than anything, this is just another example of how social media has changed things, for better and worse. Whereas, in the past, a player might have to go through another outlet to get his thoughts out on a bigger platform, a message can go out now to hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds. And there's not much a team can do about controlling it other than a warning.
"Sometimes those things do have to happen so we can remind ourselves exactly what social media can do," Jackson said, "And it can put you in a tough spot. But like I said, I think it was all done in fun, I don't think he meant any harm by it."
Of course, in this case it's just basketball, but when a promise like that goes this viral, it's nearly impossible to not follow through somehow.
"Even if the Cavs do lose, I actually still plan on doing something for the fans," Randall said.
Just don't expect to get much help from his teammates or coach.
"I'm not paying one penny," Jackson said. "I'm done with saying anything. There's no more me going on a limb saying anything."
Cornerback T.J. Carrie wasn't interested in offering a loan, either.
"I'm cool," he said. "I'm cool."
So what is Randall's plan if the Cavaliers do pull the upset?
"I mean, I guess we'll have to watch the series and see," Randall said.
Taylor offered a simple plan, though, the next time something like this comes up.
"Don't hit send," he said.
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