Penn State’s Sean Clifford, James Franklin address death threats made to quarterback
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford acknowledged Tuesday morning that he deleted his social media accounts — at least the applications on his smartphone — shortly after the Nov. 9 loss to Minnesota, when he started receiving death threats.
Yes, death threats. Plural.
“I guess I’d rather not talk about the details of all that,” Clifford added. “There are certain things that I wish the fans would not say. ... I’d probably just rather keep certain things confidential.”
Clifford didn’t want to elaborate on the “death threats,” which he casually mentioned when discussing social media on a conference call with reporters. Usually, he said, he’d temporarily delete his social-media applications when game day would approach. But, after his three-interception performance in the 31-26 loss to Minnesota, he decided to make a more permanent fix.
“I completely deleted it after the Minnesota game,” Clifford said. “It’s kind of sad to say, but you know how fans sometimes get. It gets a little crazy. I was kind of, I guess, sick and tired of getting death threats and some pretty explicit and pretty tough-to-read messages.
“But you learn how to deal with certain things and how certain people are just going to react because it’s a very passionate game with a lot of passionate people.”
This isn’t the first time this season a vocal minority of Penn State fans have caused issues for the Nittany Lions. Alum Dave Petersen mailed a letter many deemed “racist” to safety Jonathan Sutherland, in which he called the player’s dreadlocks “awful” and “disgusting.” And the running back room’s “Lawn Boyz” chain also caused criticism among some fans.
James Franklin addressed Clifford’s concern during his weekly Tuesday press conference. He acknowledged Clifford approached him about the death threats and that the matter was handled, although he declined to offer specifics.
But that was why, Franklin said, he went out of his way to not-so-subtlely thank “positive” fans after Saturday’s win over Indiana.
“I don’t know where we are as a society,” Franklin said Tuesday. “It’s concerning. We’re 9-1. We’re ranked in the top 10, I think. We’ve had a pretty good year based on most people’s standards and sometimes you go on social media, and you wouldn’t feel that way. ... And it’s not just our fan base, it’s all over.”
He added, “There’s no doubt about it, it’s troubling. It’s concerning for all of us.”
Overall, Clifford is having a solid season in his first year as a starter. In his first eight games, compared to all-time great Trace McSorley’s first eight games, Clifford bested McSorley in completion rate (62 percent to 55 percent), passing yards (1,931 to 1,798), passing touchdowns (20 to 12) and interceptions (three to four).
Currently, he’s second in the Big Ten in passing yards (2,450) and tied for second in passing touchdowns (22). But even Clifford was clearly not pleased with his performance against the Golden Gophers.
Some fans took their displeasure to an extreme. Clifford stressed there were plenty of positive messages, too, but it was a “bummer” just how negative some were.
“I’m not saying social media is a bad thing,” Clifford said. “I really have enjoyed experiencing social media and being able to interact with fans ... but it is a bummer when people take it differently and how people kind of go over the top. I would never want anyone to experience some of the things that people say but, at the same time, I know what type of position I’m in.”
Clifford ended by sharing some advice to those “negative” Tweeters.
“I would just say that, overall, just know there’s people behind what you’re sending,” Clifford said.
The Nittany Lions are set to take on Ohio State at noon Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 12:52 PM.
