I think this argument goes both ways and players, although they don't deserve personal threats, need to take the bad with the good. Think about how the majority of D-1 players get gushed over during the entire recruiting process, get hyped, chased after, get paid visits to schools, escorts, parties, etc. 2000 of us are on Huskerboard waiting for Owa to sign and talking him up like he is the Messiah. Well, he didn't sign wih us, but I guarantee he will be criticized his entire career at UCLA. Had he just gone D 2, D 3 or not played college football, he wouldn't ever have to worry about the criticism, but he and all of the others who do, did choose to play at the highest level, thus opening themselves up for criticism.
The point is, things go both ways. When these guys play great, or are great prospects, they are treated like kings....when they don't perform, they are criticized. I know that they're all young men, but if that's your argument for why we should take it easy on them, then an argument needs to be made that they are too young and immature to handle the opposite extreme of the practices of the current football recruiting processes. If you want them to be treated like kids, treat them like kids, in ALL phases of college football.