The fan posted a picture of the young woman, when she was a cheerleader, along with some uncomplimentary comments ... The cheerleader feels some of the response crossed the line into cyberbullying.
Bears-Packers. It is the NFL's oldest rivalry. Fans are passionate, some even rabid.
Kaitlyn Collins was a Green Bay cheerleader in 2009. Earlier this week, her picture was posted on the Bears fan page with the message: "Like if you agree the Packers have the worst cheerleaders in the NFL."
"No matter how confident a person can seem and appear, words hurt," said Collins.
In fact, we even can't print some of the words. Here are a couple we can show:
"Doesn't get any uglier."
"Truly an eyesore."
"Packer fans don't eat, they graze."
Collins responded with a YouTube video to the sounds of Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up." She raised hand-lettered signs showing some of the words she felt were cyberbullying.
Facebook wouldn't take down Collins' picture or the comments, even when the Chicago Bears were alerted and tried to help.
The Bears stressed they have no affiliation with the fan page:
"We do not support any posts that degrade or attack another person. We stand beside the many Bears fans who came in the defense of Ms. Collins."
Collins agreed, saying thanks from the bottom of her green and gold heart.
The fan page owner has now taken down the picture and comments, and the Bears said in a statement that the team thinks Collins has scored big:
"She displays grace, courage and strength in an adverse situation. We commend her and were proud to have her as a Bears fan for a day. We certainly are a fan of hers."
"Have a second thought before they type those nasty words or say those nasty words to somebody," Collins said. "You never know how it might, how a person might take it and how it might affect their life."
Collins is now a cheerleading coach for middle school girls. She hopes her story will be a lesson to stop cyberbullying.
