Baltimore Ravens center Matt Skura flubbed a pair of snaps during Sunday night's loss to New England on a rain-soaked field, and several more nearly went awry.
The 27-year-old center posted a message on Instagram, taking ownership of the mistakes and admonishing some who sent his family "hateful and threatening" messages.
"Ravens Flock," Skura wrote. "I want to take ownership and apologize for my mistakes in last night's game. I always strive and work to be the best I can be in any and all situations. I appreciate those who have sent encouraging messages to me since the game. However, please know my family is off limits when it comes to hateful and threatening messages. They do not deserve to be scrutinized for something they did not do. I want to move on from this and grow so that I'm able to be at my best for the rest of the season. Now it's on to the Titans."
Skura's message is the latest reminder that while we root for teams and players -- and fans hang on every play with ebullient passion and emotions -- those players that bring us joy, elation, and sometimes heartbreak are humans, too. Mistakes will be made every week. Some of those errors will lead to losses; others overcame in victories. No player is perfect, nor has any team played a completely perfect game.
Ridiculing players on social media is poor form. Going after players' families should always be out of bounds.