No one was more devastated by Ronnie Bell's crucial drop in Michigan's loss to Penn State on Saturday than the receiver himself. He was shown on the sidelines moments afterward with tears streaming down his face.
That didn't stop the backlash, of course.
"Utterly sad that my tuition goes to paying for the scholarship for such a scrub ass player like you. Bum ass. Go play basketball somewhere. Please do us all a favor and never play football again," Grady said.
Bell's father Aaron immediately stood up for his son, and Jim Harbaugh did the same on Monday at his weekly press conference.
“I’m sure Connor Grady got drunk as heck Saturday night and probably talking to his friends, took the email and wrote a bunch of stuff that I'm sure the next day, he was like, 'Why the heck did I do that? I’m an idiot,'" Harbaugh said. "I’m sure he probably felt pretty bad about it.
“That’s kind of what keeps football as popular as it is. People have those type of passions toward the game. In that way, that’s the positive. As far as the sticks and stones will break my bones, that they do, but the words don’t. Learned that a long time ago.”
Bell's drop cost Michigan a game-tying touchdown on its final play of the game. He finished with four catches for 71 yards.
“We would take as many Ronnie Bells as we could possibly get on this team," Harbaugh added. "How far he’s come, what he does for our team, the way he played in the game, he was one of our top performers. Tough as nails. Mentally as tough as anybody we got, physically the same, so we’ll take as many Ronnie Bells as possible.”