Penn State starting quarterback Sean Clifford told reporters on Tuesday that he deleted his social media accounts after the Nittany Lions' loss to Minnesota on Nov. 9. Clifford rid himself of the distraction because of the comments, and even death threats, he was receiving from fans as a result of his performance.
"I completely deleted it," Clifford said, via 247Sports. "I usually delete it closer to games, but I completely deleted it after the Minnesota game. It's kind of sad to say but you know how fans sometimes get. It gets a little crazy. I was kind of, I guess, sick and tired of getting death threats, and some pretty explicit and pretty tough-to-read messages.
"But you know, you learn how to deal with certain things and ... and how certain people are just gonna react because you know, it's a very passionate game with a lot of passionate people. You know, our fans are ... are definitely one of, if not, the most passionate in the country. I just try to stay away from it. I appreciate all of the positive people that are around, but there's also people that try to tear you down. It's always just been better to keep your head away from that kind of stuff."
In the game against the Golden Gophers, a 31-26 defeat that served as Penn State's first loss of the season, Clifford completed 23 of 43 passes for 340 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions, including a pick in the end zone with one minute remaining as the Nittany Lions were driving for the game-winning touchdown.
Clifford told reporters after Penn State's bounce-back win against Indiana that the 2019 Nittany Lions are still hungry after the loss. He then promised "the best week of preparation that we will have" heading into Saturday's much-anticipated meeting with Ohio State.
