Overheard On Twitter: Justin Fields’ Decommitment
For the second time in less than two months, Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class took a blow as its highest ranked recruit decommited.
On Tuesday night, quarterback Justin Fields, who last week was ranked as the second best player in the nation, tweeted that he was reopening his recruitment. On April 24, defensive end Micah Parsons announced on Twitter that he would be going back on his verbal commitment to Penn State, the result of months of speculation that Ohio State had been poaching on him.
https://twitter.com/justnfields/status/872260268725809152
Much like the hours after Parsons’ decommitment, the Twitter fingers were as furious as ever on Tuesday night with fans from across the country and fellow recruits weighing in with their takes, which varied in both opinion and intelligence.
Fellow Players
Ouch
— RS3
(@TheSlade_Era) June 7, 2017
Damn that hurt
— Fred Hansard (@Fred_Hansard53) June 7, 2017
Sheesh…
— BigChop
(@BigNana_) When Parson decommitted, he at least gave everyone a fair warning that he was reopening his recruitment by conspicuously tweeting that he had a big announcement to make. Fields however took the Internet and his once future teammates by surprise with his tweet, which some players voiced pretty bluntly.
Adversity is something we in Happy Valley are very well accustomed to, Loyal to one another, the fans, & above all the institution #WeAre
— Jesse Luketa
(@OttawasVeryOwn) We still love you bro do what's best for you and ya fam
— BigChop
At the end of the day it's not about where my bros go, it's just that they get a chance to make it out and play the game they love! #WeAre
— Zaey (@DjZaey) June 7, 2017
In general, Fields seemed to elicit a better response from the Nittany Lions’ other commits than Parsons did.
Best of luck to him though
— Fred Hansard (@Fred_Hansard53) June 7, 2017
. There's something special happening in Happy Valley I PROMISE hopefully he can see that 
The incoming freshman lineman, who flipped from Florida to Penn State before signing in February, also insightfully weighed in on Parsons’ recommitment with better understanding than most others about the thought that goes into selecting a final destination for college football.
@seancliff14 duh
— Fred Hansard (@Fred_Hansard53) June 7, 2017
Hansard didn’t however waste much time before throwing some shade by @ing the new heir apparent to Trace McSorley’s starting job, incoming freshman Sean Clifford, and tactfully including a goat emoji in the quote tweet. Clifford did not tweet anything on Tuesday night.
https://twitter.com/Micah_parsons23/status/872264690918981635
Unsurprisingly, Micah Parson approved of Fields’ decision.
https://twitter.com/H55ZY/status/872283221203062785
Damn
— Quon (@anderson_quon) June 7, 2017
That's a tough one
— Aeneas Hawkins (@AeneasHawkins) June 7, 2017
Quite a few of Penn State’s targets for 2018 also reacted with disappointment on Tuesday night. Losing such a highly touted quarterback could be detrimental for the Nittany Lions, especially in recruiting offensive weapons like Dotson and Anderson-Butts who were likely attracted to Penn State with hopes of playing with Fields under center.
James Franklin
I love our staff, players, commits & community! I believe in Penn State, our past, our present & our FUTURE! pic.twitter.com/zlE0QmXHbW
— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) June 7, 2017
By including “commits” in his usual uplifting message. James Franklin may or may not have shown that subtweeting is not reserved just for teenagers going through breakups. The quote from Gandhi was a good way to mask his raw emotion, but I think we all would have preferred something from Mike Posner’s “Baby, Please Don’t Go.”
Sometimes, you just need to let it out all out, James.
Penn State Fans (Sigh)
Justin Fields decomititng has me like: pic.twitter.com/1V9vBvyUI2
— Jack Margavitch (@margav_20) June 7, 2017
The movies don’t lie. It’s always the high school football player who’ll leave your heart broken.
Losing Justin Fields hurts but we still got Trace so I'm not sweating too hard #WeArePennState
—
Monkey D. Boom
(@THAKABOOM) Penn State may no longer have the nation’s best quarterback commit, but it sure does have a whole lot of moxie. And sometimes, that’s what you need to get through a time like this.
@justnfields how many retweets for you to come back to PSU?
— Jake Frisco (@EpJake) June 7, 2017
If it didn’t violate NCAA recruiting violations, I’m sure James Franklin would love to quote tweet this with #WeAre #107kStrong to get the ball rolling on this campaign.
https://twitter.com/BasicBlues/status/872270265744576513
Penn State fans should feel two things right now: 1) hopeful 2) skeptical that they know/care what a 17-year old kid was wearing to school.
Shoot! Sorry Justin, I meant to @ a diff guy… uh, Justin Bieber my bad.
— Dan Kaczowka (@DKaczowka10) June 7, 2017
Tweeting at recruits- it happens to the best of us. When it does, just do a better job of covering it up than Dan.
Other Fans (Bigger Sigh)
https://twitter.com/drewjpyrc/status/872271567463604225
Nah, fam.
If I'm being a hundred percent honest UNC is the best place for Justin fields to go
— Geoff George (@ggeorge121) June 7, 2017
Honest? As in the academic policy for UNC’s athletes?
You know what this means!
— bill (@BillyBallSzn) June 7, 2017
That bees are dying at an alarming rate?
https://twitter.com/TSherred0904/status/872266364681166848
Ask Tim Tebow, Nick Marshall, Greg McElroy, , Johnny Manziel, Zach Mettenberger, AJ McCarron, Aaron Murray, and Ryan Mallett about the SEC maximizing NFL potential.
**Editor’s note- Yes, we know that Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, and Matt Stafford all exist.
One Way To Cheer Up
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/872099026514194433
June 6, 2017 will not stand as a completely horrible day in Penn State history. Sports Illustrated tweeted out this hilarious little girl and will hopefully reduce that Justin Fields-induced sob to watery eyes and a runny nose.
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