Penn State football players were understandably upset Monday after safety Jonathan Sutherland received a racist letter from an alumnus that complained about the sophomore’s “disgusting” dreadlocks and tattoos.
The tweet, which garnered 14,000 retweets, drew responses from the university and many prominent figures in the sports world. It was a despicable message that needed to be condemned.
Come Tuesday, Penn State head coach James Franklin opened his press conference with prepared remarks and delivered an impassioned rebuke of the letter’s message. He stood up for Sutherland and rest of the Nittany Lions football team.
Frankin said:
“The football that I know and love brings people together and embraces differences. Black, white, brown, Catholic, Jewish or Muslim. Rich or poor. Rural or urban. Republican or Democrat. Long hair, short hair … no hair. They’re all in that locker room together.
“Teams all over this country are the purest form of humanity that we have. We don’t judge. We embrace differences. We live, we learn, we grow, we support and we defend each other. We’re a family. Penn State football, Penn State University and Happy Valley provide the same opportunities to embrace one another 12 Saturdays each fall. PSU football brings people together like very few things on this planet. 110,000 fans from all different backgrounds throughout our region from all different parts of this state, and they’re hugging, high-fiving and singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ together. This is my football. This is the game that I love, and mostly importantly, my players that I love. And will defend like sons. Ultimately, this is the definition and embodiment of what ‘We Are’ is all about.
“Lastly, Jonathan Sutherland is one of the most respected players in our program. He’s the ultimate example of what our program is all about. He’s a captain. He’s a Dean’s List honor student. He’s confident. He’s articulate. He’s intelligent. He’s thoughtful. He’s caring, and he’s committed. He’s got two of the most supportive parents. And I would be so blessed that my daughters would marry someone with his character and integrity.”
The man who wrote the letter, a 1966 graduate named David Petersen, tried to defend his note in an interview with The Tribune-Democrat. In doing so, he complained about the two majority black professional sports leagues not being “clean cut.”
“It wasn’t threatening or anything. I was just disgruntled about some of the hairdos that we’re seeing. You think of Penn State as a bunch of clean-cut guys. And you do see so many who are clean cut. But the tattoos and the hair – there are a lot of guys with hair coming down their backs and it just looks awful. And it’s the same for the NFL and NBA, too.”
Sutherland also responded on Twitter:
