Social Media and College Football: How ASU was pushed to the forefront of the national discussion

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

The explosion of social media has helped grow college football in many ways. Fans’ treatment of players isn’t always one of them.

Arizona State found that out first hand Saturday night. Following its 30-20 loss to San Diego State, Sun Devil players retreated to the locker room, looking to their phones and social media feeds for an escape.

Instead, they found abuse.

A group of fans had left the defeated team a robust collection of hate mail. Some reaching paragraphs in length, the messages spouted curse-filled degradation, racist and homophobic slurs, as well as stereotyping taunts to attack anybody and everybody — from the punter to the starting quarterback — as culprits for ASU’s loss.

“I don’t blame anyone for criticizing, but it’s not productive,” coach Todd Graham said. “We talk to our guys about controlling what you can control, and that’s our attitude and effort. All you have to do is go out and perform on the field and you don’t have to worry about that kind of criticism.”

For the old-schooled Graham, the fix is easy. Play better, and people will shut up.

But in a sports and cultural landscape dominated by the nonstop sharing of thoughts and feelings, it has become near impossible for athletes to satisfy the irrational nature of some of their game’s most radical followers.

“I think fans will always find something to complain about or critique,” Arizona Sports’ social media manager Matt Layman said. “(But) they will also be less picky if you win.”

As one of the men responsible for running Arizona Sports’ social media accounts, Layman has seen how online networks can bring out the dark side of a fan base.

“I think there are crazy people all the time,” Layman said. “Whether it’s pro or college, I think fans have a tendency to go exaggerated when (they) get upset or emotional, excessively passionate for games.”

College football fans can be especially harsh with their remarks. Mix in the sense of identity an alumnus has toward their school with the sting of a bad performance, and the outburst from some can be shamefully malicious.

“I think it’s a little more odd when it happens in college, because they are kids,” Layman said. “They don’t practice as much as a professional athlete does. They don’t fall under the same expectations as a professional athlete does.”

Yet on Saturday, there was no shortage of fan evaluations, fair or unfair, aimed at ASU’s players.

The team admits there is a certain amount of criticism comes with the territory. As Graham alluded to, no one associated with the program should be happy about the rocky start to the season.

It is misplaced passion however that drove the reaction that caused the postgame comments. Quarterback Manny Wilkins shared a particularly disturbing affront he received, before deleting it from his account shortly thereafter. He was only one of many Sun Devils being chastised by the faceless critics.

The collective hate directed at the school’s team was so excessive, it led to this statement from the team’s official account:

“I’m not sure things like that happen too often,” Layman said of the program’s response. “It’s more understandable that it would happen in college. They are a lot younger and they are amateur athletes and they are probably susceptible to more protection at a university than a professional athlete would be.”

One of the program’s assistant media relations directors, Jeremy Hawkes, took his message to so-called supporters a step further:

It was these declarations that got to the real root of the issue.

Big-time college football is exactly that: a big deal. The sport has been put in a pressure cooker, intensified by its expanding stadiums, lucrative television and sponsorship contracts, and a universal passion shared by its fan bases. But, the overwhelming majority of players have yet to, and likely never will, receive anything more than free tuition in exchange for their physical sacrifices. That fact alone should tamper some of the vitriol they take.

“It seems like college athletes in particular take a lot of pride in what they do, as they should,” Layman said. “But, there is that youth factor. When you’re (in college), you’re the big man on campus; maybe you don’t have as much experience dealing with the big spotlight. There is probably some of that, where (they) are more compelled to respond to criticism.”

Taking shots at money printing programs or handsomely paid head coaches is one thing. Verbally assaulting a student-athlete over a bad game doesn’t come close to stacking up.

“A lot of fans don’t really have that good an understanding of the actual game,” offensive lineman Sam Jones said. “I just don’t want to have to deal with that.”

One of Twitter’s most influential ASU fans operates along the same lines. Rob Reyes runs the popular Jedi ASU Twitter account, where he has the ear of his more than 5,000 followers. Almost of them are Sun Devil fans; it’s likely some of Saturday night’s trouble makers are among them.

Reyes says unless he personally knows a player, he doesn’t reach out to them. He hopes his followers take the same approach.

“(The players) are young adults finding their way” he said. “For any sort of adult to come down and disparage someone finding their way in the world is unfair. Football is a team sport, there isn’t one person blowing up the whole place.”

He said his own “ignorance” of the game’s nuances make him unqualified to pass such judgement; it isn’t his place to reprimand the athletes who represent his alma mater.

Following those guidelines has helped Reyes strike a successful balance with what he posts. He has tapped into the pulse of the Sun Devil fan base through his sarcastically humorous, yet consistently insightful, takes on the program.

Above all else, there is one belief that helps him decide what is appropriate to share.

“Treat others as you want to be treated,” he said. “I’ve messed up many times in my job, and even when I was in college. I don’t feel it’s right for me to get after someone’s performance personally when I know I sure wouldn’t like it myself.”

If more fans followed Reyes’ philosophy, Saturday night’s events could have maybe been avoided. But, the extra passion stirred up by college football corrupts an outspoken faction of its own die-hards.

“Some people have got to check themselves,” wide receiver Ryan Newsome said, an active Twitter user himself. “You’ve got to look in the mirror, and (know) you are tweeting at an 18-year-old, 20-year-old kid that is trying to do his best. Do (they) really want to do that? That is just some guy hiding behind a keyboard. I pray for people like that.”

Social media abuse of players in not exclusive to ASU. But the behavior of its own fans was a perfect microcosm of the troubling trend.

“There are real life consequences for what you do virtually,” Reyes said.

For the hate-spewing Sun Devils fans that popped up Saturday night, the effects of their actions has already been ridiculed nationally. It has also made an impression on some of the team’s younger players, and is likely to permeate into the recruiting world.

“You’ve got young guys on the team,” Jones, a redshirt junior, said. “I remember when I was a freshman, I was playing, but I remember where my mindset was. So if anybody’s got an issue, put it on me.”

The school has become the perfect breeding ground for the kind of behavior produced by the SDSU loss. Sun Devils fans expect a lot; some can be ruthlessly unforgiving if their team doesn’t produce it.

“There are people out there who are extremely passionate, and they want the best for the team. But they lose their damn mind and then they go on spewing nonsense,” Reyes said. “There has to be a level of maturity.”

Last Saturday is probably far from the last time Graham and his players will lose a game this year. There is an increasing chance the team will miss a bowl game for a second straight season. There will be plenty for the fan base to be angry at.

Taking it out on the players on social media is not the way to turn things around.

“There’s not much you can do,” Newsome said of the abuse. “Whether I like it or not, they are going to continue to do what they do.

“I just try to give fans something to be hopeful. It’s a long season, I see a lot of people bashing and pointing fingers. It is up to us to play.”

For ASU’s sake, the hope is that the sentiments from its fans improve. If not, the drag created by the irrational negativity will become just one more obstacle weighing down a program desperately in need of a turnaround.

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