Michigan punter Blake O'Neill's fumble against Michigan State has been well-chronicled.
The dropped snap and recovery, then accidentally tossing the ball into the hands of MSU's Jalen Watts-Jackson, resulted in the Spartans' 27-23 win over Michigan on Saturday.
As low as that was, it was compounded by some hate tweets from fans, some going as far as telling O'Neill to commit suicide. U-M interim athletic director Jim Hackett publicly denounced the comments in a letter.
The story was still going this morning, with a two-minute piece airing on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio, meanwhile, said this morning that he feels for O'Neill.
"I have empathy for that because we've been on the other end of that stick, as well," he told host Matt Shepard on WDFN-AM (1130). "I don't know that it's my place to reach out. I will say this: This is a game. This is the entertainment business that we're in. People come to watch, to have a great time with their family and their friends, and to enjoy completion at its highest level. And I think that's what they saw: competition at the highest level.
"After it's done, all I ask our players to do is do the very best they can and, afterward, we try to pick up the pieces and try to get better. But it is a game, and other people need to realize that. It's difficult to hit (the spot of a) golf ball, and it's much more difficult if 11 guys are running at you. So take a picture of that and try to frame that for a lot of people. Yeah, I think it's unfortunate and, hopefully, people will let that go, and the young man will get on with his life. He did a great job other than that one play. An outstanding job."
DETROIT FREE PRESS
U-M's Blake O'Neill boots 80-yarder, drops ball in end
O'Neill previously dropped three punts inside the MSU 20-yard line and booted one 80 yards, the second-longest in Michigan history.
But the final play is the one that will linger.
As for Dantonio, the end-of-game chaos -- Watts-Jackson was piled upon and broke his hip during the celebration -- led to him missing U-M coach Jim Harbaugh for the usual postgame handshake.
"I just got caught up in the moment," Dantonio told Shepard. "I ran down in the end zone, and Jalen was down on the ground, and I really didn't know what was going on with that, with the injury and everything. By the time I turned to come back, Coach had gone up the ramp. It's one of those things, you're just not there at the time. But there's no problems between myself and coach Harbaugh. I have the utmost respect for him. I think he's doing a tremendous job, and they have a good football team."
An MSU spokesman said Sunday that Harbaugh congratulated MSU athletic director Mark Hollis.
The dropped snap and recovery, then accidentally tossing the ball into the hands of MSU's Jalen Watts-Jackson, resulted in the Spartans' 27-23 win over Michigan on Saturday.
As low as that was, it was compounded by some hate tweets from fans, some going as far as telling O'Neill to commit suicide. U-M interim athletic director Jim Hackett publicly denounced the comments in a letter.
The story was still going this morning, with a two-minute piece airing on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio, meanwhile, said this morning that he feels for O'Neill.
"I have empathy for that because we've been on the other end of that stick, as well," he told host Matt Shepard on WDFN-AM (1130). "I don't know that it's my place to reach out. I will say this: This is a game. This is the entertainment business that we're in. People come to watch, to have a great time with their family and their friends, and to enjoy completion at its highest level. And I think that's what they saw: competition at the highest level.
"After it's done, all I ask our players to do is do the very best they can and, afterward, we try to pick up the pieces and try to get better. But it is a game, and other people need to realize that. It's difficult to hit (the spot of a) golf ball, and it's much more difficult if 11 guys are running at you. So take a picture of that and try to frame that for a lot of people. Yeah, I think it's unfortunate and, hopefully, people will let that go, and the young man will get on with his life. He did a great job other than that one play. An outstanding job."
DETROIT FREE PRESS
U-M's Blake O'Neill boots 80-yarder, drops ball in end
O'Neill previously dropped three punts inside the MSU 20-yard line and booted one 80 yards, the second-longest in Michigan history.
But the final play is the one that will linger.
As for Dantonio, the end-of-game chaos -- Watts-Jackson was piled upon and broke his hip during the celebration -- led to him missing U-M coach Jim Harbaugh for the usual postgame handshake.
"I just got caught up in the moment," Dantonio told Shepard. "I ran down in the end zone, and Jalen was down on the ground, and I really didn't know what was going on with that, with the injury and everything. By the time I turned to come back, Coach had gone up the ramp. It's one of those things, you're just not there at the time. But there's no problems between myself and coach Harbaugh. I have the utmost respect for him. I think he's doing a tremendous job, and they have a good football team."
An MSU spokesman said Sunday that Harbaugh congratulated MSU athletic director Mark Hollis.
