Florida's collapse brings out ugly side of college football fandom
https://sports.yahoo.com/floridas-collapse-brings-ugly-side-college-football-fandom-020248447.html
FANS: TRY TO LOCATE YOUR HUMANITY"
When the Jim McElwain (31) Era at Florida
abruptly ended in a blaze of discord late last month, one of the lingering questions was exactly how ugly things had gotten with fans of the Gators. McElwain surely shortened his tenure with his unexplained comment about “death threats,” but it made The Dash wonder what level of anger there is out there in the feral corners of social media — not just for the coach, but for his players.'
That led to perusing the Instagram account of freshman quarterback
Feleipe Franks (32). A one-word summation of some of the commentary to be found there: Disgusting.
To be sure, there are more supportive comments than negative directed at Franks from self-described Florida fans, even in a season that has fallen apart. But there is no shortage of hateful vitriol to be found, either. Among the posts during this football season (edited for taste, not grammar or spelling):
“If i was your coach I would pay them to hurt you.”
“F— you I hope you die b—-.”
“Can you please just leave the program, you’re aids.”
“HOW THE F— DO YOU SMILE 35-0 DOWN?!?! YOU’RE THE BARACK OBAMA OF QBS!! YOU HAVE ZERO PRIDE, AND YOU ARE DISGRACE TO THE ORANGE AND BLUE!”
“I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN.”
“Your f—ing garbage.”
“Do us all a favor as gator fans and quit.”
“I pray to god [Matt] Corral comes to Gainesville because you stink like rotten s—.”
“U are the worst damn quarter back in gator history.”
"Maybe Felipe will get deported and Malik can get some more playing time in blow outs and can watch the playoffs on the couch.” (That one was posted on the Instagram account of
Malik Zaire (33), who replaced Franks as starter last Saturday against Missouri. He didn’t fare too well, either.)
Do other fan bases hurl similar garbage at players? Certainly. All of them have their lunatic fringe. But that excuses none of it. If you spend your time abusing college athletes (or officials) on social media, you are an unfathomable loser.
It’s easy to tell athletes to just stay off social media, especially during the season. But the reality is this: that’s where people college age hang out; it’s what they do; it’s an ingrained part of their lives. Should they have to abandon that just to avoid hearing from “fans” who hope they die? If so, that’s pretty sad.
