"People died today. Show some respect" - NFL fans react to JJ Watt's 4th of July post after gunman kills 6 in Illinois

J.J. Watt’s 4th of July tweet received some mixed responses following the tragic mass shooting that took place earlier in the day in Illinois. Watt’s tweet did not refer to the shooting, though the timestamp of his tweet was of the evening, after the shooting took place.

Although Watt, like many others, probably did not hear of the news until later (or chose to post something humorous despite the news), the residents of Twitter expressed their opinions on his tweet.

Watt’s original Twitter post was in reference to an old viral video of people playing with fireworks. 'Put it in reverse Terry!' is the name of the clip, and Watt put the quote from the video into his post.

The video tweeted by Watt is given below:

Despite the innocent nature of the post, some felt that Watt should not have posted something humorous on the same day as the shooting tragedy:

At the very least, this Twitter user kept the humor focused on the clip in question.

One user directly replied that while death is always tragic, it did not seem Watt’s post was insensitive or related to the tragedy.

Another user felt that Watt should have had more empathy and awareness before posting on Twitter:

Others took Watt’s post solely on its face as something humorous:

It’s worth noting that the namesake of the original video has a firework named after him.

Memers will meme:

A lot of JJ Watt’s repliers agreed that the classic clip never ceased to be funny.

The court of public opinion shines its light brighter on those who are famous.

The 'Back It Up Terry' clip had been trending all day.

JJ Watt seeks full season with the Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals signed JJ Watt in hopes of shoring up their defense. The star defensive player suffered a major shoulder injury and only played in seven games. He did make an improbable comeback to play in the Cardinals’ playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions Los Angeles Rams.

Although the shoulder injury was worse than initially diagnosed, all reports indicate that Watt is fully healthy. He is participating in the Cardinals’ offseason program and should be starting training camp without restrictions.

The Cardinals and JJ Watt are looking to go deeper in the playoffs after they started the season 7-0 but faltered down the stretch with a 4-6 record. Star quarterback Kyler Murray is looking for a max extension and both sides reportedly are still talking.