BEREA, Ohio -- It took Cleveland Browns defensive back Damarious Randall all of one tweet to go from a relatively unknown new player in town to the subject of much attention.
Randall did not expect his tweet of support for Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry ahead of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers or a reply about buying jerseys for those who retweet his follow-up message would go viral.
But viral it has gone, and now, it is one of the top 20 most retweeted posts in the 12-year history of Twitter.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to get over 100,” Randall said after Wednesday’s practice in Berea. “I didn’t think it was going to get over 100 retweets.
“I didn’t think people were going to view that as a serious tweet from me, but it got the whole world excited about it, and now, I’m actually excited about it. It is a great, great opportunity to interact with the fans, and we’re just going to watch the series and see how everything fills out.”
Despite the message getting retweeted more than 787,000 times, which could cost Randall in excess of $78 million if he had to pay up on the deal, the fourth-year cornerback is “definitely having fun” with the interaction from fans.
“That just kind of goes to show that this Cleveland fan base is great, and I’m actually excited about it just to know that the fan base is like this,” Randall said. “I just really can’t imagine how it’s going to be when the Browns start winning a lot of games.”
Admittedly, Randall has been a fan of Curry since his the latter’s college days at Davidson, and even more so after watching the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player overcome repeated ankle injuries to become one of the highest-scoring shooters in the league.
“I am not anti-LeBron,” Randall said.
“I am actually a big LeBron fan as well, but when he’s going against Steph, I would rather Steph over LeBron. At the end of the day, they are both great, great players. I definitely respect everything that LeBron has done for this community, for this city and this state. He is one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball, if you ask me.”
Originally, Randall was expecting to buy courtside seats for Games 3 and 4, but now, he is unclear about his plans for next Wednesday and Friday nights.
“I actually was planning on it, but I don’t think any Cleveland fans would sell me any tickets anymore, so I really don’t know about that right now,” Randall said.
While a Cavaliers upset could cost Randall dearly from a financial standpoint, he is upbeat about the best-of-seven series heading into Game 1, which will be played at Golden State’s home court, Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California, Thursday night.
“I’m actually looking to enjoy a very good NBA Finals series,” Randall said.
Regardless of how the NBA Finals turn out or how his relationship with the fans develops from here, Randall is focused on doing what he can to help the Browns reverse their fortunes.
“Obviously, I put a lot of work into what I do every day, and week-in, week-out, I’m going to try my best to bring this team wins, and ultimately, bring this organization championships,” Randall said.
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