PHOTO: Freddy Adu promotes vacuum, bites back at critics

Is this a case of much ado about nothing, or is Freddy Adu really upset?

The U.S. superstar-turned-nomadic footballer has somehow found a job playing with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. But, playing in the NASL isn't easy, so Adu is using his once-legendary status to market products on Twitter.

Adu was subsequently berated in articles and on social media (read the replies), prompting this follow-up tweet a day later:

Here's the thing, Adu used "#sponsored" in his original tweet, and it's no secret athletes get paid to push products. It's been like that for decades. But they only get away with it when they at least fake the appearance of not actually being sponsored.

Maybe Adu should take a page out of Matthew McConaughey's book and straight up tell everyone he's been using a Hoover Cordless 2-in-1 Stick and Handheld Vacuum, long before anyone paid him to. He didn't do it to be cool. He didn't do it to make a statement. He just liked it.