Several Penn State football players have come to the defense of redshirt sophomore safety Jonathan Sutherland, who received a racist letter from a fan that was documented on Twitter on Monday evening.

Defensive tackle Antonio Shelton was the first player to share a photo of the letter, and running back-turned-safety CJ Holmes soon followed:

https://twitter.com/_groovy55/status/1181323210358480901

my teammate got this in the mail today, and tbh Im at a lost for words.. I also have locs, Tats, and NFL dreams too, these messages can not be tolerated, this was extremely inappropriate, racially biased, and selfish to feel like you even have a right to send this message #WeAre pic.twitter.com/DPTp9Km9yt

— ㅤ (@CjHo1mes) October 7, 2019

Both players’ tweets got more than 10,000 retweets and 40,000 likes, and Twitter even compiled a news event about the letter. Whether it was on social media or during media availabilities, many of Sutherland’s teammates addressed the letter he received.

Will Fries and Micah Parsons — the two players who addressed the media at Penn State’s weekly press conference at Beaver Stadium — both addressed the letter.

“I think that any time we hit some adversity, such as things like this, it brings us closer together,” Fries said. “Those remarks were negative, and we have each others’ back. As far as Sutherland goes, he’s the gold standard. He’s not only a great player, but a great human being in general. His character is extremely high. He’s my locker neighbor, and I’m proud to sit next to him.”

“People are always going to have an opinion about someone,” Parsons added. “But as a locker room, we’re always going to remain tight. Jonathan’s going through it emotionally. We’ll carry him, but we’ll come together even more and become more of a brotherhood.”

Elsewhere, defensive end Shaka Toney echoed the sentiment of James Franklin’s statement on the issue during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday morning.

“Sutherland does everything right,” Toney said. “He’s mature — he’s a pro’s pro, some would say. He does well in school, he’s already a captain, he’s only what, a sophomore? Jonathan Sutherland is a model football player. I’m pretty sure whoever wrote that letter — if they met Jonathan Sutherland, they’d want their kid to be like him.”

Other players — including Trace McSorley, Aeneas Hawkins, and Fred Hansard — also shared their thoughts on the letter and support for Sutherland on Twitter.

We must all denounce these racist remarks if we’re proud Penn Staters. This is not Penn State. This is an embarrassment. https://t.co/9XW8NHzChy

— Hunter Kelly (@_hunterkelly_) October 7, 2019

Smh… https://t.co/UiisKrcgUe

— Trace McSorley (@McSorley_IX) October 7, 2019

Hey Dave,

Fuck off.

For The Glory,
A Guy Who’s Been There

PS— Keep up the awesome work Antonio & Jonathan #WeAre https://t.co/BHS1yN4SdD

— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) October 8, 2019

Jonathan Sutherland is THE blueprint. The highest standard in the classroom, community, and with his teammates on the field or off. This letter is intolerable, your discomfort is disgusting, and you don’t deserve to be “represented” by a man with character as spectacular as #26. https://t.co/0ma7OAZzYe

— Aeneas Hawkins (@AeneasHawkins) October 8, 2019

I can’t believe this is real https://t.co/wuA2AhLGL2

— Fred Hansard (@Fred_Hansard53) October 7, 2019

Penn State men’s basketball star Lamar Stevens also responded to the comments.

One thing that made me love penn state is the open arms you receive from day 1 regardless of race, ethnicity, hair, tattoos, etc… bad representation of our fan base #WeAre Better than this…SMH https://t.co/JKrHlZc7Oa

— Lamar Stevens (@LamarStevens11) October 7, 2019

At the end of the day, the letter won’t end up having any tangible impact on Penn State’s preparation.

” We are going to ignore that. You can’t put energy into negative things,” Toney said. “We are just going to keep on pushing forward. We’re not going to worry about some lunatic talking behind his computer and didn’t even put a real name on it.”

The letter was signed by a Penn State alumnus named Dave Petersen. The Tribune-Democrat — a local newspaper based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania — confirmed with Petersen that he sent the letter to Sutherland.

In the letter, Petersen said Sutherland’s “shoulder length dreadlocks look disgusting and are certainly not attractive.” According to the letter, he and his wife “miss the clean cut young men and women” that played sports in the past, and he also said that they stopped watching NFL games “due to the disgusting tattoos, awful hair and immature antics in the end zone.”

“We congratulate you on your game against Pitt but you need to remember you represent all Penn Staters both current and those alumni from the past,” Petersen wrote. “We would welcome the reappearance of dress codes for athletes.”