Brandon Spikes: Homosexual tweet was a joke

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes caused an Internet uproar after tweeting out what some said was an offensive joke.

Under the Twitter handle @BrandonSpikes55, he wrote “I’m homophobic just like I’m arachnophobic. I have nothing against homosexuals or spiders but I’d still scream if I found one in my bathtub.”

Spikes said he was just joking around and didn't mean to offend anyone, but that's not how some of his followers took the tweet.

“The fact that he’s a homophobic, you know, that’s really unfortunate. We’re all God’s children,” said Patriots fan, Katherine Litchfield.

One fan, with the Twitter handle @ShakeNTaake, tweeted at Spikes, “Gay jokes, how clever…remember you are a role model for kids around the world. October is also anti-bullying month.”

While his play on the field has been much acclaimed, his tweet has garnered mixed reactions from being homophobic to being just a joke.

Spikes later tweeted, “PEOPLE !!!!! It’s just a joke…seriously a JOKE !!! Chill out.”

Not all fans are offended.

“It’s a social media outlet. It’s a way for people to express themselves, joke, kid and other people just read into it or take things too personally,” said Patriots fan, Heather Johnston.

Spikes was not available for comment in the locker room and other players weren’t comfortable talking about it.

“I’m just concentrating on Seattle so I’m not really, have really any comments at all about it,” said Patriots wide receiver, Wes Welker.

“I watch SpongeBob SquarePants at night and USA Today so I don’t have time to look at everything…that’s my life at home,” said Vince Wilfork.

“I would not put that on my Twitter, I don’t even tweet anything football related,” said Patriots punter, Zoltan Mesko.

A Patriots spokesperson said it was a situation that was being handled internally.