Michigan athletic director Jim Hackett sent an open letter on Sunday decrying some of the comments directed at punter Blake O’Neill in the wake of the Wolverines’ shocking loss on Saturday.
As usually happens in instances where an athlete makes a high profile blunder, O’Neill was receiving Twitter abuse and death threats from a segment of Michigan fans after the botched punt that led to a 27-23 Michigan State victory.
In response, Hackett sent out an open letter to the Michigan community. It reads, in part:
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.
Hackett’s statement also praises the football that Michigan played and emphasizes that the future is bright for the program, before asking that the community reject the comments of those who sent the vicious tweets to O’Neill.
Michigan interim AD Jim Hackett's open letter to UM community pic.twitter.com/vEMvS8a5Jd
— angelique (@chengelis) October 18, 2015
Indeed, most Michigan fans were much more civil toward O’Neill, but it’s good to see Hackett publicly call out those who weren’t.
