Top Recruit Blames Facebook For Recruiting 'Nightmare'

Filed under: Football

These should be happy times for top football recruit C.J. Johnson of Philadelphia, Mississippi.

His biggest problem these days should be getting ready for life at college and preparing his body to play big-time college football on a national stage.

Instead, Johnson has become the poster boy for what can go wrong when privacy is invaded, college loyalties run amok and people use social media sites like Facebook to make people look bad.

Johnson says he was the target of such a campaign that was triggered by a recruiting war between bitter college rivals --the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University -- for the services of Johnson, an all-state linebacker.

Johnson had decided to attend Mississippi State but changed his mind when defensive coach Manny Diaz left the school. Johnson then decided to attend Mississippi.

Johnson's decision angered Mississippi State fans and some took to Facebook saying that Johnson's mother worked as a housekeeper for a Mississippi graduate and was getting paid $100,000.

Johnson took to his Facebook page to deny the charge and said he wasn't going to post on Facebook anymore, presumably because he feels they helped spread the false rumor about his mother's employment.

In the garbled English common in the online world, Johnson said "...I'm not considering Mississippi state anymore bc you have constantly comment on my page send me crazy inboxes and has made my recruiting experience a living nightmare. Goodbye facebook."

I hope a few different things come to Johnson in short order.

The first is that wherever he goes to college, he should spend a good portion of his time in English class to polish his communication skills.

Second, I hope he develops a better understanding of the world around him and a slightly thicker skin to deal with the slights the world will undoubtedly throw his way over time.

Johnson is just a kid so he can be forgiven for being a little oversensitive in this case. He has the right to change schools. But he should also know that such a decision will bruise some feelings among those he left at the altar.

He simply needs to understand that Facebook is not his enemy. Facebook didn't lie about his mom, an anonymous user of Facebook did.

And Johnson should just wait until he misses a key block or tackle during a big college game versus a hated opponent (Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State perhaps).

The hate mail he will receive on his Facebook page will make him long for the good old days when the only bad posting he saw was a lie about what his mom earned.

I wish C.J. Johnson lots of luck and hope his immense talent on the field helps people forget his little misstep off the field.

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