Kenneth Ruff Jr. woke up around 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning and read the same email he and 104 of his Syracuse football teammates received.
As Ruff processed the events described in the email — a white supremacist shooter’s manifesto allegedly being posted online and shared on campus — his attention turned to the quickening pulse of text notifications buzzing his phone. Ruff, a senior who keeps in touch with as many players as possible, sifted through notes of anger, confusion and disappointment from teammates present and past.
“I’m sad,” Ruff said Tuesday. “I don’t like to be like this.