Players learn how to confront Twitter pot shots
Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware is the team’s top tackler and a lightning rod for criticism on Twitter. Some of the tweets cuss him out, others he laughs off.
But one was way out of line: His father had to contact the police after one person picked on Boulware’s little sister.
“Is it really that serious? You have to find my little sister and say something to her?” Boulware said. “It’s football. Sorry that I ruined your day so much, that I tackled your quarterback too hard. It’s ridiculous.”
The bigger the stage, the more fans talk about and taunt college players behind a Twitter handle. It’s a fact of life circa 2017. Ben Boulware knows that well. It’s a part of life as a college celebrity, and it means learning how to respond — or not respond — with the public watching every post.
All four playoff teams have stories about Twitter nastiness, and most players try to restrain themselves from firing back.
Clemson has a no-social-media policy during the season, a plan voted on by the players. Alabama coach Nick Saban lets players know that what they say on social media is part of their “brand,” for better or worse.
“This is sort of something that we’re constantly trying to address with players so that they can brand themselves in a positive way,” Saban said.
Former players can only marvel at what their successors have to deal with. Ex-Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy doesn’t think he would have been mature enough to handle the starting job as a freshman like Jalen Hurts , partly because of social media critics.
“I definitely couldn’t have handled it as an 18-yearold, especially if I was an 18-year-old in 2016,” said McElroy, now an analyst for the SEC Network. “It’s only been six years since I finished, and the world’s changed quite a bit in a very short period of time. It’s a tall order for sure and it does take a remarkable amount of maturity.”
Alabama tailback Damien Harris, one of the Crimson Tide’s more frequent posters, said one user once said he hoped he would break his leg and have a career-ending injury.
He got some backlash in September after posting comments about a presidential debate , which later was a topic in his political communications class.
“People were all like, ‘Stick to football. You don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Harris said. “So I’m like, ‘Since I play football, that means I can’t be involved in something that affects me?’ That stuff didn’t make sense. Just like everything else, you read it and then you move on.”
Washington running back Myles Gaskin said he tries not to spend much time looking at responses to his posts. His solution: Block the worst offenders.
“Anybody that is out there saying mean stuff I know you’ve got something better to do. Don’t bother me with it. That’s the way I look at it.”
CLEMSON: Receiver Artavis Scott missed national championship media day Saturday in Tampa, Fla., because he was serving as a pallbearer in his grandfather’s funeral. Coach Dabo Swinney says Scott, a junior from nearby Clearwater, was expected to rejoin the Tigers for a team photo and practice later Saturday.
FCS: In Frisco, Texas, Khalid Abdullah ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns as James Madison (14-1) won its second Football Championship Subdivision title, beating Youngstown State 28-14 on Saturday.
It is the first time in six years a team other than North Dakota State raised the FCS championship trophy. The four-time champion Penguins (12-4), who finished their second season with Youngstown native Bo Pelini as their coach, made it to the title game for the first time since 1999. Their four titles came during the 1990s under Jim Tressel, now the school’s president.