As we discussed earlier in the day, Terrell Gausha had tweeted that he would no longer wear the American colors following the George Zimmerman acquittal, including a tweet that read “After this fight I will no longer wear Stars and Stripes on my uniform. That’s over with.” Those tweets were picked up by TMZ and then other media outlets including the Washington Times and Yahoo! Sports. Kevin Iole, who wrote that piece for Yahoo, spoke with Gausha earlier today and got some clarification.
After stating that he wouldn’t wear the red, white and blue for any fights going forward, Gausha now says he’ll be wearing the colors this Saturday when he takes on Julio Garcia.
“I was shocked, disappointed and angry by the verdict,” Gausha told Yahoo! Sports Wednesday in a brief telephone interview. “I was angry and I couldn’t understand it. But you know TMZ. They made it seem different than what it was.”
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“I fought many times for my country and I was always proud to wear that USA across my chest,” he told Yahoo! Sports. “I never said I was ashamed, or anything like that. That was what I was saying.”
While TMZ did sensationalize their headline, it’s hard to say they made it seem different than it was. Gausha’s tweets were very direct in stating that he felt the country was filled with racism and hatred as well as flat out stating that he would not wear the American colors going forward.
This decision may be based on cooling down as a bit of time passed, or it may be a PR move considering that “Olympic athlete” is still a big part of his marketing.
Either way, Gausha will wear the colors this weekend.