Former Oregon player sits with fans, appalled by behavior

A former Oregon football player, who played in a recent BCS bowl for the Ducks, emailed oregonlive.com’s John Canzano to share his dismay with the current state of the Ducks fanbase. The former player remained anonymous, but he didn’t mince words when tearing into Oregon fans.

The player attended Oregon’s 42-14 win over UCLA on Oct. 26, and he was shocked to hear fans hurling negative comments at Ducks players after mistakes. After attempting to quiet some of the fans, he was met with the same sort of negativity:

I was then verbally attacked by other spectators saying, “you need to keep your (expletive) mouth shut, because you don’t know (expletive) about football.” They claimed that I didn’t know that they had coached college football, and that I had no idea what I was talking about. Ironic to say the least, considering my background and what you know of me, what my old teammates know of me, and what my old coaches know of me.

Oregon struggled for much of the game against UCLA, taking a slim 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter. However, the Ducks reeled off 21 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes to win by a comfortable margin. Fans apparently didn’t take kindly to the frustrating first three quarters, and their reactions shocked the former Ducks player. His experience left him with a clear message for Oregon fans:

I will always love the ducks: my coaches, my teammates, my brothers and family. The rest... Go (expletive) yourselves.

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