There have been many instances recently where I've wanted to write this post, but last night just pushed my limit. It pissed me off.
Michigan's punter Blake O'Neill botched a punt with 10 seconds remaining in a game against Michigan State. The Wolverines were up 23-21 on the Spartans, with a punt all but sealing a win. But it wasn't gonna go down like that.
After the botched punt, Michigan State picks up the loose ball and scores the touchdown with no time remaining for a walk off touchdown.
This post however, is not about the crazy game on the field. It's about the craziness that ensued off of it, which was far more egregious than the play itself.
There have been articles upon articles written since then, not about the crazy ending to a great rivalry game, but about the social media abuse sent O'Neill's way because of that play. In that kind of a game, with that ending, I can understand how emotions must be going wild for fans from not just fans of those two fan bases, but every sports fan. I understand expressing frustrations on social media or even being disgusted by the inability of the punter to make a fairly routine play. What I don't understand is sending death threats the way of a 22-year-old athlete who is already most likely at an all-time low.
I'm definitely not one to sit on a high horse and talk about how everything should be clean-cut in sports. I love controversy, trash-talk, criticism, etc. It's what makes sports great and a talking point in gatherings. However, there are boundaries.
In O'Neill's case, one twitter user told him to "head to the equipment room and start chugging that bleach my friend." I literally cringed when I read that. For fans to think they care more about winning a football game than a senior on that team, playing in this rivalry game for his last time is ridiculous. This guy went through an entire week of practice, preparing for this game and he made a blunder in a crucial moment. Not only does he have to deal with self-disappointment, but also facing his teammates and students on campus and more. The last thing he needs is for some stranger, who probably wasn't good enough to sniff the playing field of a D-1 school, to advise him to kill himself. Yes, of course people will say it's just an expression and he didn't mean it literally. Well my rebuttal to that: It's not a joking matter.
When a guy is as low as that punter probably is, depending on his emotional capacity, those words have the potential to hit home. And that is a scary thought.
I like to believe that I'm a competitor to the craziest of levels. But at the end of the day, any kind of competitor or the most die-hard fan has to realize, IT IS JUST A GAME. IT'S NEVER EVER THAT SERIOUS!!
And this happens way too much, and I'll just refer to the last couple of weeks to show some other examples.
Just one week ago, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden struggled against the New England Patriots which prompted a series of twitter users advising him to kill himself. Don't believe me? Just search his name and look through his mentions. It's disgusting. I'm one of the people that think Weeden should be benched and I can criticize his play all day long and it may not even come out in the nicest ways. But I know I'll keep it on the field and not make it personal.
The guy that's replacing Weeden for the Cowboys is Matt Cassel and he held court in the locker room this past week. A reporter asked him what his first thought was when he heard he had been traded from the Buffalo Bills to the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks earlier. His response was not that he gets a chance to start for his childhood team, America's team. His response was the concern for his wife who was 36 weeks pregnant. My point by this is that these athlete's are human. There are things that matter more than just the game.
And don't think this just happens to players who aren't superstars.
On September 29th, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls suffered an injury to his face. While most people did express their concern for him and hope for a quick recovery, there were a few people that recommended that he just end his life. Same thing happened for Texas Ranger Elvis Andrus after he choked this past week against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the ALDS.
The sad part is that people that say these things are smart enough to make a twitter account, type up these messages, and press send. They fail to realize that at the end of the day, it really is just a game. When people make these comments, in my opinion, it's valuing a game over a human being's life.
Think about that.
Sad thing is that I've seen this happen at the high school and college level while these athletes are literally just kids, and it goes all the way to the pro level. And it's never justified.
If you're one of these people, I hope this convinced you to watch what you tweet and think twice before pressing send. If you're not, I really hope you share this message to help raise awareness for an issue that I take very, very seriously.
Links to articles about O'Neill's social media abuse:
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/10/michigan_punter_blake_oneill_r.html
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2015/10/17/michigan-blake-oneill-social-media/74154188/
Attached four minutes of me speaking about this issue, please feel free to give it a listen and share.
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