A 47-year-old Englishwoman has seen the best and worst that Twitter would have to offer the American football player who shares her name.
Dee Ford, of Kent, England, told the Kansas City Star that her "phone was going off literally nonstop" due to angry tweets from Kansas City Chiefs fans who thought they were venting at linebacker Dee Ford following his critical late penalty in last weekend's AFC Championship loss to the New England Patriots.
She says Ford "doesn't deserve" the vitriol and even leans into the misguided backlash, a small taste of which includes:
"You ruined my whole year."
"un f---- believable you cost me a lot of money 5000 to be exact dee ford. How can you be so stupid!"
Dee Ford of Kent, England, whose Twitter bio prominently displays her picture and a note that she is not a professional American football player, responded, "No. Way. Is. This. Still. Happening."
In fact, Dee Ford the linebacker isn't even on Twitter, but he was no stranger to the Englishwoman.
Five years ago, when the player was still at Auburn, someone in the school's athletic department tagged the woman in a congratulatory tweet after the player was named most valuable player of the senior bowl. Auburn fans responded with their own positive tweets.
She's embraced the Tigers family, too.
She decided to learn about the game and was hooked. She has spoken to the Chiefs' Dee Ford by phone and attended two games -- an Auburn home game last fall and a Chiefs game in London in 2015.
"He's genuinely one of the nicest people," English Dee Ford said. "He's always been good about this. He's a really humble young man."
