The Las Vegas Raiders have defends a controversial tweet about George Floyd.

Reacting to the news that Derek Chauvin had been gaunt guilty of murder, the NFL team posted: "I can breathe."

Many connected to the tweet to Floyd's last words, "I can't breathe", which he said 20 times after he was was pinned to the ground by Chauvin prior to his death in May of last year.

Two-time Super Bowl champion wide receiver Torrey Smith wrote in response: "Smh (Shaking my head). Delete this."

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"I refuse to believe a diverse social media team ok'd that Raiders tweet," Smith wrote in a follow-up post.

After the post was published, Raiders owner Mark Davis admitted that the controversial tweet was his idea, during an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

He said: "I don’t want anyone in the organization taking heat. I take full responsibility for that.

"I was driving home from a meeting when the verdict came in. Soon after, I was listening to George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, speak. And he said, ‘Today, we are able to breathe again.’ I took my lead from him. In my mind, that was all I needed to say, ‘I can breathe'."

Davis then went on defend the tweet: "I believe it has a lot of context. [Chauvin] was on his neck for more than nine minutes and was found guilty on all counts. And now, his knee is fully off his neck. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late."

Although Davis insisted the tweet would not be deleted, he did apologise to Floyd's family.

Per The Athletic, he said: "If I offended the family, then I'm deeply, deeply disappointed."

At the time of writing, more than 29K people have commented on the tweet, with the majority of them criticizing its content.

One of the most liked replies reads: "About to be a job opening on the Raiders social media department."

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A second replied with information about how the team could delete the tweet.

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A third wrote: "Delete this. A jury verdict isn't bringing George Floyd back."

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The NFL, meanwhile, posted a statement in the wake of Chauvin's guilty verdict.

It read: "Today's outcome in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis does not undo the loss of life. Mr. George Floyd should be here with us today. Our hearts remain with the Floyd family, and we understand the pain, anger and frustration does not go away even when justice is delivered.

"Importantly, even as we identify reasons for hope, we must continue to help move our society toward a more equal and just tomorrow. We are proud to partner with NFL players and clubs and remain committed to do the important work needed to make positive change in our society."

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While Chauvin's sentence has yet to be determined, the former police offer is facing a maximum of 75 years behind bars.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Peter Kováč

NFL team defends controversial George Floyd tweet after backlash