Jacory Harris Receives Racist Message on Twitter

Harris said he is trying to focus on Pitt, and not a message saying Miami doesn't need a "black quarterback"

As if Jacory Harris didn't have enough need to get his head straight in the wake of throwing four interceptions against Ohio State. After the game, the Hurricanes quarterback received a message on Twitter saying Miami fans "don't want a black quarterback here."

"It is disheartening," he said Sunday. "It's something that you look it and it kind of brings you to tears, a little bit. But at the same time, you know it's just a comment...Got to live with it."

The incident did not factor into coach Randy Shannon's controversial decision last week to ban his players from the hyper-current social network messaging site, but it's certainly affirmation that it wasn't a bad choice.

Though Harris told reporters three times that he was not letting the message affect him, he is now caught up in the inevitable media to-do, and at the worst possible time: the no. 19 Hurricanes are attempting to regroup in front of a national ESPN audience Thursday night on the road at Pitt.

Their loss to the no. 2 Buckeyes wasn't necessarily pretty, but the Canes still have a very good shot at the ACC Championship game, and have the talent and ability to run the table if they can pull together and re-focus.

As such, while no one can certainly blame him for being wounded by a racist remark, giving Twitter any more thought is the last thing Harris needs to be doing. But that's what racism does.

"It hurt him a lot," said close friend defensive tackle Marcus Forston, who had queried Harris when he seemed unusually quiet. "He never in his life would expect that to come from a fan, especially at UM, being in Coral Gables, how diverse it is down here. He didn't really tell me what happened. He just said a lot of stuff was going on from Twitter, but he didn't get into details."

Harris said he was determined to focus on Thursday night's game, not the online response of fans whether good or bad.

"I'm not really worried about it," he reitterated. "It's part of the sport. Gotta get used to it."

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