OT: Letter to Kevin Sumlin after A&M's Loss to UCLA

Submitted by FauxMo on

There are idiots like this in every fan base, I know. I even recall some of the horribly racist letters the Fab Five received from so-called "Michigan fans." But this is pretty over the top, both racist and threatening violence. Here is the content of the letter, editing out the obvious worst part:

“You suck as a coach! You’re a n—– and can’t win! Please get lost! Or else.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/09/08/wife-of-te…

Hey folks, we all love football. But it's a game, played by kids young men. Let's cut this shit out. 

 

Hail Harbo

September 8th, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^

Many of you instantly thought the author of the letter lived under the flag of KKK or something similiar.  But what if the writer lived under the flag of BLM or something similiar?  I think the return address should give those with two brain cells to rub together pause as to who the writer may be and exactly what the motive may be.

rc15

September 8th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^

Curious if "or else" is enough to hold up as a threat in court if they were able to find the person who wrote it. With the rest of the letter it defintely implies a threat, but someone could claim they meant it as "Or else...I will be a very sad fan"

EGD

September 8th, 2017 at 9:51 AM ^

I would think they ought to be able to find the author, considering there was a return address on the envelope.  

I am not exactly sure what the appropriate legal standard would be to prosecute the sender but I do think the phrase "get out or else," coupled with the racial slur, would cause fear or apprehension in an objectively reasonable person.  So if I was on a grand jury, there are probably crimes that I would vote to indict the sender for based on this.

Kevin13

September 8th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^

example of how many idiots there are in the world. I always love people that will talk trash but never put their name on it.  If your not willing to say something to someones face, then don't send an unsigned letter or do it behind a fake name on the internet either.

Blue_In_Texas

September 8th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^

FYI- I moved to Texas a few years ago and have met a lot of A&M fans. I have heard a shocking amount of them refer to Sumlin with the N word. Remember how we used to say things about Hoke like, our team just keeps getting worse, or the offense is bad? They say things like, "He's a N." So I was not at all surprised by this unfortunately. 

Heywood_Jablome

September 8th, 2017 at 9:54 AM ^

I'm always skeptical of stuff like this, especially when the victim runs straight to social media. No doubt there are unhinged racists out there, but Sumlin was already on the hot seat and just lost a game in the worst imaginable way after giving up a 30 point lead.  What better way to take the heat off himself than make people feel sorry for him? Not saying he had a hand in it, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm sure coaches/players get this type of stuff more often than you think....lots of crazies out there. Half surprised more people haven't been attacked...especially in the south.

stephenrjking

September 8th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^

Jeff Blehar automatically suspects all social media reported hate instances until more evidence comes in regardless of which side it implicates, and that has proven to be wise. A lot of these things turn out to be fabricated, including several instances in Ann Arbor. And there are a few things that raise an eyebrow here. Still, it is totally plausible that the Sumlins receive vulgar and abusive hate mail, and certainly the university. No doubt worse things are said about Sumlin publicly on social media. This isn't that much harder than a tweet for some people. So I have less reason to doubt this.

daveheal

September 9th, 2017 at 9:03 PM ^

A high profile black family in Texas gets a horrific threatening racist letter in response to...sports. If your first response, like the guy I was responding to or, it appears, maybe you, is "let's wait until the forensic analysis comes through," you're an asshole at best.

My guess is her going public with this only resulted in *more* harassment. Yes, people have made stuff up before, but unless you have some indication that that's the case here, not giving them the benefit of the doubt is shitty. What is your "wait and see" approach here? What additional evidence would you like?  

rc15

September 8th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^

The one thing that does raise some suspicion to me is that the return address is to a country club... You don't have to put a return address on a letter. So why put a country club's address? Unless you are trying to say "sent by rich racist white guy".

I still think its real, and whoever sent it is just stupid enough they didn't know they didn't have to put a return address on it.

Hail Harbo

September 8th, 2017 at 5:41 PM ^

So they're smart enough to look up the address of a rich country club yet too stupid not to put it on the envelope?  Question, why would they put the address of a rich country club on the envelope?  If you have to twist yourself up to explain the inexplicable, maybe you ought to check your initial premise.

uofmfootball97

September 8th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^

First off, this is despicable behavior. Absolutely deplorable.


Secondly, I really hope that the return address on the envelope is legit and they find this POS. Not sure they'll ever be able to prove it, but I hope they do and the person is held accountable. Surely there's a law broken somewhere here.

The Mad Hatter

September 8th, 2017 at 10:07 AM ^

and completely out of line in the 21st century.  Whomever wrote it is bad and should feel bad.

However, Sumlin makes $5 million per year.  For doing a Hokian job at A&M.

Never feel sorry for a millionaire.

 

xtramelanin

September 8th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^

that type of stupidity was more prevalent decades ago, not that hatter somehow ever approved of it.

as a humorous aside, i'm pretty sure i'm the only coach in northern michigan that can say with a straight face (and in reference to one of the twin sons in the avatar picture), 'everybody knows you have to have a black quarterback to win in this league'.  like all of our kids they have some level of talent, but the one has such a command of our fairly complex offense and he is a very good athlete like his brothers.  he is the whiz-bang on the field.