Penn State football fan attacks the appearance of Ottawa-born player in letter
Posted Oct 8, 2019 08:43:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Pennsylvania State University football fan wants Nittany Lion Safety Jonathan Sutherland to cut his hair, calling the length of his dreadlocks “disgusting.”
The letter was from Dave Peterson, one of the school's alumni, saying he understands times have changed, but he misses “the clean cut young men and women from those days.”
The letter finished by saying he had to stop watching the NFL due to the “disgusting tattoos, awful hair and immature antics.”
Sutherland, who was born in Ottawa, shared the letter on his Twitter page Tuesday, followed by a response.
“I've taken no personal offence to [the letter] because personally, I must respect you as a person before I respect your opinion,” he wrote. “At the end of the day, without any apology needed, I forgive this individual.”
At a press conference Tuesday, Nittany Lions Head Coach James Franklin addressed the letter, highlighting Sutherland's accomplishments.
“Jonathan Sutherland is one of the most respected players in our program,” said Franklin. “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.”
An American news outlet, Tribune-Democrat, spoke with Petersen about the letter. Petersen explained he didn't mean any offense with his message but was disgruntled about the hair-dos he sees.
