LeBron James, other athletes respond to Ferguson verdict via Twitter

Within minutes of Monday’s Ferguson verdict, NBA star LeBron James used social media to express his remorse for the family of dead teenager Michael Brown and the chaos that followed.

The grand jury’s decision not to prosecute police officer Darren Wilson was announced on Monday evening during the Cleveland Cavaliers' 106-74 win over the Orlando Magic.

After the game, James took to Twitter to voice his frustration at the situation in Ferguson by tweeting a drawing of Brown and Trayvon Martin walking arm-in-arm.

As a society how do we do better and stop things like this happening time after time!! I'm so sorry to these families. Violence is not the answer people. Retaliation isn't the solution as well. #PrayersUpToTheFamilies #WeHaveToDoBetter

A photo posted by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Nov 11, 2014 at 7:06pm PST

Twitter blew up with other prominent sports stars speaking out as well.

Magic Johnson expressed his disappointment with the situation in Ferguson by tweeting: "We must work together to stop the unnecessary loss of young men of color. Justice was not served in Ferguson."

We must work together to stop the unnecessary loss of young men of color. Justice was not served in Ferguson.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 25, 2014

Serena Williams also tweeted her shock. 'Wow. Just wow. Shameful. What will it take???,' she said.

Wow. Just wow. Shameful. What will it take???
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) November 25, 2014

NFL star Reggie Bush also tried to put it in perspective.

No matter who you are, what color skin you have, where you live, we are all in this together! This… http://t.co/iDYzkjygbE
— Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) November 25, 2014

Rams offer free tickets to high schools near Ferguson riots: Report

There doesn't seem to be anything that anyone can do to ease the tension in Ferguson, Mo. right now, but one NFL team has made a small attempt at bringing normalcy back for some school kids in the nearby area.

The St. Louis Rams organization is offering free tickets to Saturday’s preseason game to area schools overwhelmed by the riots which followed the police shooting of an unarmed man and set off days of protests and mayhem in the streets.

Whether or not you consider it a generous offer to help bring sanity back to kids confused by the current state of affairs or a blatant PR attempt conveniently combining national news with something far less important like sports, three local high schools will each receive 75 free tickets to see the home team play the Cleveland Browns, reported SI.com.

Rams manager of fan development and alumni relations Kyle Eversgerd contacted coaches at McCluer High, McCluer North and McCluer South; offering the free tickets to each team if they wanted them.

“In light of everything going on it just kind of hit me,” Eversgerd said. “I can’t imagine with all that stuff going on, how tough it must be to practice. We were able to get them away from it all.”

It’s a nice gesture for a suburban town gripped by uncertainty and, hopefully, the payoff will be peace of mind for a couple of hundred teenagers — and that they can pay it forward.