A Chicago Bears fan page on Facebook has taken down a vicious post about a former Green Bay Packers cheerleader after she made an emotional video decrying cyber bullying last week.
The image of Kaitlyn Collins, posted with the caption “Like if You Agree The Packers Have the Worst Cheerleaders In The NFL,” drew nearly 2,000 comments, many of them hurtful and vulgar, before it was removed.
“I was a little taken aback,” Collins told a local FOX affiliate. “I couldn’t believe that some of those words were said and the way they were said.”
In her now viral YouTube video, Collins holds up a series of signs describing the comments posted in response to the picture, which was taken while she was a cheerleader for the Wisconsin team in 2009.
“Doesn’t get any uglier. Truly an eyesore,” read one.
“I’d still f— her but only from behind with a paper back over her head,” read another.
Others rallied in support of Collins.
“Wow… even as a Bear’s fan I think that was mean… She isn’t ugly… and she is also someones daughter…” wrote one user.
Collins said she and her friends petitioned Facebook to take down the image and the nasty comments when they went up on Feb. 4; but the social media site said that the photo did not qualify as cyber bullying.
“Please help me to get this picture taken down and horrible comments removed!!” she pleads in the video.
“Thankfully I have an amazing support system full of wonderful friends and family telling me that I am beautiful,” she continues. “What about the people who don’t have that at home? What will happen to them when something like this happens?”
Collins also garnered the support of retired Packers wide receiver Donald Driver and Packers guard T.J. Lang, both of whom retweeted the young woman’s video.
The unofficial Chicago Bears fan page finally pulled the post on Feb. 8 , adding that “there’s no need for bullying.”
“We would like to apologize once again to anyone who found the picture of the Cheerleader offensive,” the page wrote in another post published on Feb. 9. “We would also like to send an apology to the Cheerleader herself (Kaitlyn Collins) whose picture was posted.
“Moving forward we will monitor the comments better so we can delete one’s that are out of line.”
Now that the Facebook post has been removed, Collins, who works as a middle school cheerleading coach, said she hopes her story will teach others about the dangers of cyber bullying.
“Have a second thought before they type those nasty words or say those nasty words to somebody,” she told FOX 11. “You never know how it might, how a person might take it and how it might affect their life.”
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