The Miami Hurricanes defeated ACC college football rival Florida State on Saturday in a double-overtime win that ended with an officiating controversy.
The tense emotions of the game apparently motivated one Florida State fan, identified by social media users online as Kade McLendon, to message a racist tirade aimed at Miami defensive end Damon Wilson II.
Wilson posted a screenshot of the direct messages allegedly sent by McLendon on Instagram with the caption: “Glimpse into the life a black student athlete.”
While many of the messages Wilson received in the screenshot he shared are too explicit and insensitive to republish, McLendon used multiple racist and homophobic slurs, threatened physical and sexual abuse, and made multiple references to slavery and the history of segregation in the United States.
“You’re the type of people that should be forced to the back of the bus,” McLendon wrote in one of the messages sent to Wilson.
Social media users reposted Wilson’s screenshot online and matched the full name used on McLendon’s Instagram account to a LinkedIn profile that also appears to belong to McLendon.
While that LinkedIn account has now been deleted, it showed that McLendon identified himself as a Florida State student from January 2022-December 2023. It also listed his current job title as “Computer Technician” for The Florida Bar, which is a “statewide professional organization of lawyers that serves as an advocate & intermediary for attorneys, the court & the public,” according to a social media account belonging to the organization.
Following multiple people online contacting The Florida Bar to inform the organization about McLendon’s alleged comments toward Wilson, the group released a statement on X Monday afternoon.
“The Florida Bar is aware of messages that were possibly sent from an employee’s social media account that contained inappropriate content,” the organization said, “and we have started an internal investigation into this matter.”
While the senior Wilson did not record any official statistics in Miami’s 43-35 win over Florida State on Saturday, he was directly involved in one of the final two controversial plays to end the game in the second overtime.
Florida State offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin was flagged for a questionable holding penalty after he knocked Wilson to the ground during a fourth-and-21 touchdown pass from Seminoles quarterback Ashton Daniels to wide receiver Micahi Danzy.
After the holding penalty wiped out that touchdown and put the Seminoles in a do-or-die, fourth-and-31 situation, Daniels heaved a second hail mary attempt to the end zone. The ball initially appeared to be simultaneously caught in the end zone by Florida State wide receiver Duce Robinson and Miami safety Bryce Fitzgerald.
Officials ruled the play an interception by Fitzgerald on the field, and it was upheld after video review to give Miami the eight-point victory; the now-No. 1 Hurricanes avoided a major upset after they were favored by over three touchdowns entering the game inside their home stadium.
ESPN football rules analyst Steve Shaw agreed with the ruling on the TV broadcast of the game, citing the NCAA rulebook, which states that the ball becomes dead in the end zone on a simultaneous catch once one of the players is deemed to have sole possession on the ground.
“You can see the defender, he clearly had his hands on the ball when they go to the ground,” Shaw said on the broadcast. “You can see it in his stomach, and so it was an interception. Clearly nothing to overturn it. This was the correct call.”
However, Florida State coach Mike Norvell was still displeased about the ending during his press conference on Monday.
“The holding call was an absolute joke,” Norvell said. “You go through the course of that game, same thing happened a few plays earlier that was not called. But in that moment, that play — it’s a shame. It really is. We had to go convert the 2-point play, but for those kids not to be able to finish the game on the field in that moment is really disappointing. That was bad. I haven’t gotten the final response from them, but If it’s anything less than what I said, it tells me everything I need to know.”
“You’ve got two guys going up for a catch and they both come to the ground, simultaneous possession — that has to be a part of the discussion,” Norvell added about the second failed hail mary attempt. “I’m not an official, I’m not sitting there in the command center, but when you broadcast it and that’s not mentioned, that’s something that at least [should] be part of the discussion I would think.”
Florida State fell to 3-4 with the loss, while the win helped Miami (6-0) rise from No. 3 to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll. It was a volatile weekend across the sport that featured five of the top seven teams all losing for the first time in the poll’s history, which dates back to 1936.
