SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah is apologizing after an Arizona State football player received a scathing, vulgar direct message from a Ute fan on Twitter. The message came after the player was ejected from Saturday's game against Utah.
Evonnda Fields, who says she is player Evan Fields' mother, tweeted out the direct message her son received:
"You piece of s**t! Go f**k yourself and die for targeting Zach Moss. You were pissed for getting ejected but you should be pissed for being such a worthless pile of s**t"
Evan Fields replied with "Okay... I'll be sure to let everyone know how u feel about me"
Fields was ejected from Saturday's game after a targeting call on Utah star running back Zach Moss in the second quarter. After Thursday's tweet by Evonnda Fields, the fan's message to Fields began to circulate online-- including on the fan site Ute Hub. Fellow Ute fans were clearly not happy with the move.
"I was fairly shocked to read what was in it," Ute Hub founder Tony Korologos said. "It was obviously over-the-top fan behavior."
He said the topic got a lot of traction.
"[One user] said, 'Don't DM opposing players, especially if you are a working professional with all your business info on your profile,'" Korologos said, reading off the user's comment. "Yeah, you definitely don't want to make a fool of yourself."
While fan emotions were running high after Saturday's dirty play, Korologos said people were supportive of Fields after reading the fan's hateful message.
"Reaching out to a player directly and connecting with them, and using foul language and not representing the university that you are supporting very well, is bad," Korologos said. "These guys are kids. They're 18 to 22 years old, and I just don't think that's a very wise thing to do."
In a tweet, University of Utah Director of Athletics Mark Harlan released a statement in relation to the message, apologizing for the fan's actions. He said they were working to identify the fan and address the behavior.
The Ute fan later issued an apology to Mr. Fields, his family, ASU Football and U of U Football.
