This manuscript is a case study into public responses to an amateurism transgression committed by Chase Young, a former Ohio State University football player and Heisman candidate. In November of 2019, Young utilized his personal Twitter to announce an amateurism transgression stemming from his acceptance of an improper loan. This study considers 1,674 public and direct replies to Young on Twitter. A variety of themes were identified, including attempts to support Young, externalize the blame, dispute Young’s story, exchange information, communicate ambiguously, and contemplate consequences of the transgression. Utilizing social identity theory and identity threat management, public expressions of fandom were positioned as a variable that explained the diversity in responses to Young’s transgression. Indeed, findings illustrated in-group and out-group biases, whereby Ohio State fans supported Young and fans of other teams disputed his story. Interestingly non-expressed fans engaged in image repair on Young’s behalf via externalizing blame to other institutions, especially the NCAA, which may demonstrate the interplay of multifaceted identities. Results from this manuscript help lay the groundwork for audience-centered efforts to understand athlete transgressions.

该手稿是对公众对前俄亥俄州立大学足球运动员兼海斯曼大学候选人蔡斯·扬（Chase Young）犯下的业余主义违法行为的案例研究。在2019年11月，杨利用他的个人Twitter宣布因接受不当贷款而引起的业余主义违法行为。该研究考虑了Twitter上对Young的1,674个公开和直接回复。确定了各种主题，包括尝试支持扬，将罪责外部化，对扬的故事提出异议，交换信息，模棱两可的交流以及考虑过犯的后果。利用社会身份理论和身份威胁管理，将狂热的公开表达定位为一个变量，解释了对杨的犯罪行为的反应的多样性。确实，调查结果说明了小组内和小组外的偏见，俄亥俄州州立球迷借此支持Young，其他球队的球迷则对他的故事提出异议。有趣的是，没有表现出来的粉丝代表扬通过将责任归咎于其他机构，特别是NCAA，来表现图像修复，这可能证明了多方面身份的相互作用。该手稿的结果有助于为以观众为中心的努力打下基础，以了解运动员的过犯行为。