White Sox Star Explains Racist Tweets From High School

It didn't take long for the glimmer of Michael Kopech's ascension to the major leagues to tarnish. A Sun-Times article posted Thursday afternoon exposed a rash of poor judgment from a teenage Kopech and threatened to sully the transcendent White Sox star's week.

After the 22-year-old Kopech's girlfriend, actress Vanessa Morgan posted a picture of her beau (a stunning Sports Mockery edit) someone immediately called for Morgan to comment on Kopech's past.

That's when the social-media ferreting began and screenshots of his old tweets were spotlighted. After reading through all of the tweets, one can surmise that there is an element of bullying underneath the obvious insensitivities, as well. Kopech was contrite about the racist and gender-insensitive tweets with the Sun-Times, saying,

“Yeah, I had to delete some stuff,” Kopech told the Sun-Times on Thursday. “Things I said that were immature and inappropriate. I used some poor language in there. Obviously, I’m trying to be looked at as a role model and the last thing I want to do is have some kid look at what I’m saying and take it the wrong way.

“It’s unfortunate that I was ever at that point mentally but it’s not who I am now. Yeah, I cleaned some tweets up and tried to get rid of them. But, obviously, people saw them. It’s not who I am now and it’s not who I want to be. It was something I did in high school, and with everything I’ve gone through in pro ball the last five seasons I feel like a big part of my career was maturing. Hate to see it but it’s not who I am anymore.”