Curt Schilling Tweet Compares Muslims To Nazis, Retired MLB Pitcher Later Deletes Twitter Post

UPDATE 4:01 p.m. EDT: Schilling issued an apology on Twitter, indicating he had been suspended by ESPN. His post also said he had made a "bad decision" that deserved negative consequences.

UPDATE 2:40 p.m. EDT: ESPN issued a statement on Schilling's tweet, calling it "unacceptable." The network also announced the analyst had been removed from his current assignment.

“Curt’s tweet was completely unacceptable, and in no way represents our company’s perspective," the statement read. "We made that point very strongly to Curt and have removed him from his current Little League assignment pending further consideration.”

Original story:

Former MLB pitcher and World Series winner Curt Schilling posted, then quickly deleted, a meme to Twitter Tuesday that compared Muslims to Nazis, according to reports from multiple outlets. The meme featured a picture of Adolph Hitler, and said the percentage of extremist Muslims now is similar to the number of Germans who were Nazis.

"It's said only 5-10 percent of Muslims are extremists," the meme read. "In 1940, only 7 percent of Germans were Nazis. How'd that go?"

Schilling posted the image and accompanied it with his own comments. "The math is staggering when you get to the true numbers," Schilling wrote.

An accompanying post to Facebook was available for longer than the tweet before it was deleted as well. The post to Twitter was met largely with criticism and ridicule by many who found it offensive.

Schilling has since taken to Twitter in an attempt to apologize, saying he "owned" it and acknowledged the post was likely to take on a life of its own. While the retired pitcher has responded to individual Twitter users, he has yet to issue a full comment on the situation. When a user asked Schilling why, if he owned it, would he delete the post, he responded, "No reason to keep it up."

Schilling works as a baseball analyst for ESPN. The network has not yet commented on the brewing social media scandal.

Schilling, who played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and others, has dealt with other troubling public issues recently. There is an ongoing criminal investigation looking into a failed $75 million deal between Rhode Island and Schilling's videogame company, 38 Studios, the Boston Globe reported. The company went bankrupt in 2012.

‘‘When we’re done investigating to the best of our ability, then the case will be charged or not charged,’’ Col. Steven O’Donnell of the Rhode Island state police told the Globe last Friday after several groups called for an investigation. ‘‘It’s something we worked together on because it is so lengthy and long and we have to constantly review it.’’