After blowing a 44-10 lead over UCLA, embattled Texas A&M football coach Kevin Sumlin’s seat has gone from warm to boiling. Fans and college regents are calling for him to be fired, saying this the final straw after a few years of mediocrity. Coach Sumlin would benefit greatly from the perfect distraction. One that would gain him sympathy while also deflecting the issue of his coaching ability.
Enter his wife, Charlene Sumlin, who posted this tweet last night:
https://twitter.com/courshel/status/905942396831191040
On the outset it looks like a genuine race based threat, and the tweet and attached letter have been spreading around through sports media.
But take a closer look:
There’s no postmark over the stamp.
Any piece of mail mailed through the postal service has a postmark over the stamp, to prevent people from reusing the stamp.
One of the most common examples of a postmark, and the style that would be applicable to the above letter, would look like this:
Other examples are as such:
It appears as though this letter never went through the mail. It was “sent” from an address that traces back to a country club in Houston. The country club is based 95 miles away from College Station, where Texas A&M is location, and, presumably, where the Sumlin’s live, so it’s unlikely anyone would drive that far to drop this letter in the Sumlin’s mailbox, when they could have just mailed it instead. A high dollar country club would be the perfect location to pin on some racist, rich, white dude.
Except it doesn’t even look like a dude wrote the letter. Look at the handwriting. Notice the curl on the “N”s. Notice the perfect cursive. Notice the font-worthy capital K. This is the handwriting of a woman. Likely in her 40’s or 50’s. Such as Charlene Sumlin herself.
Furthermore, most hardcore football fans are males. Especially ones who would be enraged enough to send a threatening letter like this. Very few females, even in Texas, would go out of their way to do this.
So this begs the question: Did Charlene Sumlin herself pen this “threat” letter in question? It would be the perfect cover to ensure her husband hangs onto his job.
Back when Kevin Sumlin had Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel, he was winning. A lot. When he coached at the University of Houston, with Case Keenum as his quarterback, he was winning. A lot. Albeit, against weaker competition of Conference USA, as opposed to the rigorous Southeastern Conference that he coaches in now.
Sumlin’s name was tossed around for a lot of big time coaching openings a few years ago, including NFL jobs, but the hype has fizzled, and this may be the sound of the final fizzed bubble bursting.
