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10. The Ugly Side of College Football
The fall is a time when people gather around the television or load up tailgating equipment to go see their favorite team play. There’s food, family, friends and cheers for the home team — boos for the visitors. But sometimes these happy times get ugly.
This year’s Iron Bowl had one of the greatest finishes to a football game in history when Auburn’s Chris Davis ran back a missed field goal attempt for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. The touchdown gave Auburn a win over cross-state rival Alabama 34-28. Auburn fans stormed the field and Alabama fans hung their heads in disbelief. Yes, a little trash talking was appropriate in this context — it goes with any rivalry this strong. That’s where it all should end. Fans should be supportive of the ENTIRE team no matter the outcome.
That didn’t happen though. Cade Foster, Alabama’s place kicker, missed three field goal attempts in the game and the “Bama fans” (People who claim to be Alabama fans but only know the words Roll Tide, The Bear and the name of the player they believe cost them a game) took it personally. Foster has received death threats and had homophobic slurs directed at him since Saturday night. Most of us would agree that this level of hatred directed at this college student, or anyone for that matter — is absolutely disgusting. The Auburn loss shouldn’t have been blamed entirely on this young man trying his best to win a game.
Fans that pin an entire game’s outcome on one player don’t know anything about playing sports and probably never played themselves. Losing is a team effort. Cade Foster didn’t lose the game for Alabama. The team, Nick Saban and the coaching staff collectively lost the game. When Auburn scored to tie the game at 28, there were blown assignments by the secondary. Had the Tide defense not allowed almost 300 yards rushing, Alabama probably would have won the game — but that’s the nature of all competitions. You win some, you lose some.
If Nick Saban just has his quarterback take a knee, instead of kicking a near 60-yard field goal, the game goes into overtime and Alabama may have won.
But no, so many ignorant people want a reason to hate somebody. They want to point a finger at one person and blame the pain they feel on him or her. Anyone with any football sense, or sports or business experience, knows it’s NEVER just one person’s fault for a loss. The criticism that Cade Foster has received from “Bama fans” is nothing short of classless.
Here are a few of the “PG” rated tweets that were sent to Cade Foster on Twitter.
This isn’t just a problem at Alabama though. Back in 2003, Ole Miss fans displayed a similar reaction after the LSU game in which the Rebels lost 17-14. Jonathan Nichols, that season’s Lou Groza Award winner, missed two field goals and Ole Miss fans will forever blame the loss on him. And it’s absolutely ludicrous to dislike Nichols. Ole Miss fans who accurately recall that season know that Nichols had just as much to do with Ole Miss’ success that season as Eli Manning did.
In the opening game against Vanderbilt, Nichols hit two 50+ yard field goals to give Ole Miss a three point win. Then he kicked several field goals against Florida in The Swamp that got the Rebels a victory in that hostile environment. Then he single handedly beat Arkansas by kicking four field goals to get Ole Miss the 19-7 win over the Razorbacks.
But again, people don’t want to think about that. They only want to remember the two field goals he missed in the LSU game. Nobody remembers the ref calling Chris Collins out of bounds on a would-be long touchdown catch when he was clearly still inbounds. Nobody remembers Eli Manning falling on fourth down assuring our defeat. They just remember Nichols’ two missed field goals. And again, people who blame him for that loss don’t know anything about the game.
One more example is Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman, who missed two short field goals in their loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack in 2010. Boise State was looking at becoming the first non-BCS conference school to play for a national championship if they were able to go undefeated that season. Those dreams were shattered that night however when they lost in overtime 34-31.
After the game, Brotzman received threats from some clueless fans and the blame was unfairly placed on his shoulders. It’s a sad fact of the game but there are always going to be fans that are stupid enough to want to make threats or physically harm a kid because he’s the one everyone is pointing fingers at.
Is it OK to be upset? Absolutely. But there is a fine line between being upset and being so hot headed that you make stupid threats towards players. Ole Miss fans everywhere are upset right now after the Egg Bowl loss. And there are some idiots who are blaming Bo Wallace for the loss on Saturday. A game isn’t won or lost by one person. It’s a collective effort. Ask any coach. You win as a team and you lose as a team.
Here is a classless tweet that was directed at Bo Wallace after the Egg Bowl
Boise State’s head football coach Chris Peterson said it best after they lost their game to Nevada in 2010.
“One play can win a game but one play can’t lose it. There’s a lot of plays to be made that we didn’t make for whatever reason.”
THAT is what true fans of a school need to keep in mind whenever their team suffers a close loss.
Let us know what you think in the comment section
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | 11:00 AM ABC or ESPN |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | 2:30 PM ESPN or ABC |
John K. Helveston
December 4, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Thank you for this article. I could not agree more wholeheartedly. Bo Wallace is a credit to Ole Miss on the field and off! The only causes for embarrassment this season have been the narrow and ignorant comments of a few hateful people who likely never played a down outside someone’s backyard.
Guy Odom
December 4, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Thank you for this article as well. As much of a passionate fan of Ole Miss Sports as I am I want us to win every game, but most of the time that is not a possibility. In the heat of the moment people say dumb things including myself. No game is to blame on one person plus no game is to blame on the officials either when you lose. There is a time and place for jabbing and poking fun, but it should never go personal to tear down a young man or young woman. I have learned the HARD WAY that when you degrade someone publically to get attention you really are just embarrassing yourself. Go Rebels and proud FAN of THE UNIVERISTY OF MISSISSIPPI.
Jonathan Martinez
December 4, 2013 at 5:15 pm
yup I wholeheartedly agree. been a bsu fan for 16 years now. when brotzmen missed that field goal it hurt alot but I knew it wasn’t his fault that we lost the game. he could have won it for us no doubt but if everyone played better we wouldn’t have had to be in a position to rely on a game winning field goal. I got in arguments with lots of people including friends and family members explaining why it wasn’t brotzmans fault. some opened their minds others did not. no remembers that he threw a fantastic pass to a back up receiver on a fake punt to keep a drive alive, which ended in a TD, in the fiesta bowl the previous year against tcu. we won that game 17-10. people need to open their eyes and minds more.
Scott Hadley
December 4, 2013 at 7:30 pm
I have been a Bronco fan starting in the mid 70’s I have watched many great games win or lose. Fans that have no concept of good sportsmanship give us all a bad name. These young men play for the love of the game and a chance at a good education, fans do not have the right to berate them for a single bad play. Go Big Blue.
Melvin McGaha
December 4, 2013 at 7:49 pm
I agree, after all it is only a game.
Paul Frisina
December 4, 2013 at 9:48 pm
As the parent of a former kicker, I love your article and am disgusted with these people who call themselves fans. If the kicker has to come out to try a kick, that means the offense failed to do their job.
Thank you for a great piece.
Paul Frisina
Steve Blackmon
December 5, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Thank you for a great article. I admit, when I saw it and started to read, I thought, “here we go again, another hate on Alabama article from another delighted Ole Miss fan.” Thanks for pointing out specific examples of how this can happen at any school, anywhere. As an Alabama alum and fan, I have been disgusted by the immature rants of a few. Unfortunately everybody has those few, as you’ve shown. Sadly, it only takes a few, maybe even only one, to make the whole look bad. Of course, it doesn’t help that it is this type of “fan”, and this type of reaction that draws the attention of the press and others looking for any reason to “hate” another school. This is the second Mississippi article that I have seen on this matter. At least yours fairly pointed out the more widespread problem, including a “look in the mirror”.
Steve Blackmon
December 5, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Great point, Paul. Plus, the kicker is probably the only one on the team who is expected to be perfect. Tough job.
Haardcase
December 5, 2013 at 12:49 pm
Paul, you’re spot on.
And I’m still very happy that Michael played for our Broncos. I hope that he’s just as successful as an alum as he was a student athlete.
Cody Gochnour
December 5, 2013 at 10:22 pm
I’ve often sad that if a team loses a game on a missed field goal they didn’t deserve to win.
A place-kicker is effectively the towel the offense throws in when they have given up, in that a field goal is a last-ditch attempt to get one man to put points on the board when 11 could not. To blame a kicker for the failings on an entire offense seems asinine to me.