When it comes to the national perception, the image of the Penn State fan base has taken a beating of late.
In early October, Penn State defensive tackle Antonio Shelton posted a letter on social media from a Penn State fan addressed to safety Jonathan Sutherland that reeked of not-so-thinly-veiled racism. Nittany Lions football players supported their teammate by wearing t-shirts prior to the following week’s game, support that was shut down over potential compliance issues.
After that storm had calmed, Penn State went on to continue its eight-game winning streak to start the season before having the utter audacity to lose to then-unbeaten Minnesota in Week 11. The loss didn’t sit well with a certain segment of the PSU fan base, as it turns out, with starting quarterback Sean Clifford revealing Tuesday that he was forced off of social media because of death threats he alleged to have received.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:I completely deleted [social media] after the Minnesota game. It’s kind of sad to say how some fans get. It gets a little crazy. I was kind of sick and tired of getting death threats and some pretty explicit and pretty tough-to-read messages.
“But you learn how to deal with certain things and how certain people are going to react because it’s a very passionate game with a lot of passionate people. Our fans are definitely some of, if not the most, passionate fans in the country. So I just try to stay away from it.
“I appreciate all the positive people that are around, but there’s also people that try to tear you down. So I think it’s always been better to keep your head away from that kind of stuff.
The threats didn’t sit well with head coach James Franklin.
Social media gives fans the ability to interact with players.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 19, 2019
With that comes good and bad, and @PennStateFball is the latest to experience the unfortunate latter.
"I don't know where we are as a society, it's concerning." pic.twitter.com/MNJ1XbpeCp
Penn State, ranked No. 9 heading into the release tonight of the updated College Football Playoff rankings, will travel to Columbus this Saturday to face second-ranked Ohio State in a matchup that will go a long way in deciding the Big Ten East and, eventually, the playoff hopes the conference entertain.