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Bowers
Football teams practice in hot conditions all around this country and fans hold their collective breaths that no news is good news. The one thing each fan does not want to hear is one of their stars suffered an injury.

One of the stars at Clemson got one of the phone calls no one ever wants to get but it had nothing to do with football. DaQuan Bowers was very close to his dad, Dennis, who passed away over the weekend.

Its never a good time to get the news but when you are 20 and your dad is in his early fifties, you are not prepared for that kind of tragic news.

In a world where so many kids grow up in a single parent home and many of our boys really don’t get to know their father, the Bowers’ story was refreshing. Da’Quan knew his father because they worked together on the weekends in their family business.

Family businesses often times produce tight relationships as can family bands. So the Bowers had the advantage of both in their gospel band that Da’Quan played with many weekends throughout the season.

Now music and football don’t seem as important. Bowers will play both again but things will probably be a lot different for Da’Quan now.

I still have my mother and father so I have no idea what Bowers is going through on this day. I have witnessed both of my parents lose their dads and each taught me a little about the grieving process. One thing I learned from watching both was that everyone’s grieving process is different.

In Bower’s case he has an opportunity to lean on a big support group. Dabo flew down to be with Da’Quan over the weekend. He will have his family, his coaches and his teammates to help him begin this long process.

No one is sure when DaQuan will return to Clemson and rejoin his teammates for practice but when he does my guess is that he will a bunch of guys that are ready to be whatever he needs them to be.

RSVP and Regrets
Two Clemson coaches were invited this past weekend to the NFL Hall of Fame inductions. One made it and the other had to send his regrets.

Former Clemson player and assistant coach Whitey Jordan coached Emmitt Smith when he played running back at the University of Florida. Jordan was the running back coach for the Gators when Smith broke records in his three years in Gainesville. Jordan also coached Eric Dickerson and Craig James at SMU but Smith was his best pupil. Jordan left Clemson late last week to be with the Smith contingent that also included Emmitt’s brother Emory who played at Clemson.

Clemson defensive line coach Dan Brooks also received an invitation but he had to send his regrets. Brooks was an assistant at Florida and recruited Emmitt out of Escambia High School in Pensacola, FL. It would have been very understandable for Brooks to skip a day of work to visit Canton for this once in a lifetime opportunity but Brooks decided against it and worked the Tigers first day in pads instead.

Sunshine Sweep
Over the past couple of days I had an opportunity to go back and watch Clemson’s wins over Florida State and Miami from last season and four things really stood out to me. First, the Tigers made enough mistakes for an entire season in each win and were a little fortunate in each. Second, both games featured huge plays and huge momentum swings but the Tigers remained composed throughout each win. I thought the Seminoles and Hurricanes both suffered from bad coaching. It was pretty apparent to me that the Clemson staff out coached both Sunshine State opponents. Finally, there was a lot of talk about finishing around Clemson football the last few years and these two games were great examples of great finishing efforts by the Tigers.

Scrimmage Notes
I was not at the scrimmage this morning and have not talked to anyone that was there yet. But the SID department sent out a release that told us a few things about this team.

Dabo said both quarterbacks played well. Both looked for the tight end in the passing game as Drew Traylor surprised everyone once again.

One theme that was reiterated this morning was that Rod McDowell has emerged as a threat at running back. The Sumter, SC product has become more physical and is finishing runs.

Another storyline early in camp is the emergence of Andre Branch who had the best play in the scrimmage with an interception return for a touchdown.

Dabo said he was very satisfied with his place-kickers again as Richard Jackson, Spenton Benton and Chandler Catanzaro combined to go 9-11 with one miss being a 56-yard attempt.

There was no news on DeAndre McDaniel’s hip injury available but this will be a major story to follow in the next day or two.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers,
Nick Corontzes.

Comments:

I will be praying for Daquan the next few days and encourage everyone to do the same. I am lucky and have not had to deal with what he is dealing with at the moment, but it has to be even more difficult when you have such a good relationship with a parent.

Posted by Locotiger on August 10, 2010 at 05:28 PM EDT #

I cannot relate to what Daquan is going through right now, even though I have lost both my parents and my Father-in-Law, recently. Their deaths were after long illnesses, and each death was a welome end to a state of misery, and although I loved them all so much, it's got to be so much harder when it's sudden and unexpected. I know that Daquan is dealing with much grief right now, but he has a huge family to lean on and to help him through it. He also has a great faith background to lean on, and he is not alone in his sorrow. That will provide great strength and comfort to him. God bless the bowers family.

Posted by Dugatiger on August 11, 2010 at 09:58 PM EDT #