The final score of Ohio State’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Clemson on Saturday: 31-0.
The number of field goals missed by OSU kicker Tyler Durbin: two.
The chances those misses cost OSU the game: about 0 percent.
The number of legitimate reasons for someone to ever send any college athlete an email like this, whether the score of the game was close or not: zero.
Those are screenshots of an email apparently sent to Durbin after (or late in) his team’s season-ending defeat. They come from a nonofficial Twitter account maintained by Ohio State’s specialists. Durbin’s email address is blotted out, as is the unverifiable name of the sender.
Durbin’s teammates jumped to his defense, fortunately.
OSU’s long snapper:
It's a shame to see how some "fans" react to adversity. Love my unit and my brothers #GoBucks https://t.co/jX0S9u1pZF
— Liam McCullough (@LiamMcCullough2) January 1, 2017
OSU’s punter:
I'm sorry but there is no place for this, for whoever sent this to tyler needs to be ashamed https://t.co/PpnvNHcBef
— Cameron Johnston (@Cam_Johnston) January 1, 2017
OSU’s other kicker, whom Durbin jumped on the depth chart:
Unbelievable. Hard to believe an adult could say these things. https://t.co/9YNdKQItec
— Sean Nuernberger (@Sean4Heisman1) January 1, 2017
This happens from time to time, and it’s never not dumb.
Last season’s highest-profile example came after Michigan’s punter mishandled the snap that led to Michigan State’s stunning, season-turning touchdown. Michigan’s then-athletic director decided to pen an open letter after Twitter harassment of the punter reached a fever pitch:
Today I awake to the shocking reality that our community who care so much about this program would send hurtful, spiteful and vicious comments to one of our students. To be clear, such comments come from a small minority, none of whom are reflective of our institution.
The program I know at MICHIGAN speaks about the team, the team the team. The people I have been associated with my whole life around this fantastic program - some whom are living and some whom have passed on - would never, I repeat never, spread blame.`
As our head coach said yesterday, "...this outcome will steel our spine."
That means all of us.
I'm asking that our community not lose this game twice by condoning thoughtless comments and remember the Fielding Yost comment that this is the "Michigan of ours."
Most people are better than to personally attack unpaid college athletes for their on-field performance. And while this harassing email sucked, Durbin’s teammates’ response didn’t at all. Good on them.