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Senior Writer [∞]
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Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 1:28 PM
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Moving has enabled me to find a lot of things that were packed away in the smaller house, and this morning I tried to add a few more items to my office. I found a game program from the 2018 National Championship and was reminded of a story.
Four years ago, we sat down to eat at Dabo Swinney's house, and he showed us a picture of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. His advance team had made (I think) a May trip out to check out the stadium and the hotels, and while they were inside the almost empty stadium, one of the workers caught their attention because he was wearing a Clemson National Championship hat from 2016.
A picture was taken, and sent to Dabo, and he laughed and told us it was a sign that Clemson would play for the National Championship. Fast forward to January of 2019, and Nikki and I decide to leave the hotel and board the media bus to that very stadium. The team would be at the hotel until about three hours before game time, and I was talking to different people about the mood that afternoon. Jerry Rice spoke with the team, and everyone was upbeat and confident.
On these National Championship days, the ride to the stadium on the media bus is always a little strange. National writers and local writers converse, sometimes about the game, sometimes making predictions, but always looking out the window, just wanting to get to the stadium and get to work. It's what we had been working for all season.
The police sirens didn't interrupt my reverie that day - motorcycle cops were leading the way and clearing traffic for our trip to the stadium, and I looked out the window and into the partly cloudy skies and half listened to the banter around me. Whenever we have these moments, these fragile, stolen moments of time where you know you are a part of something, I try to drink it all in. Remember the sights and sounds and smells. Savor every second. This day was no different, and I tried to tune out the predictions of doom for the Tigers. This was Alabama's greatest team. They had Tua. So many players were NFL bound. Trevor was a freshman. Saban is a genius.
Fifty minutes later, we arrived and made our way through the media security checkpoint. It was still over five hours until first kick, so we made our way to the playing surface and walked all over the field, taking pictures, reveling in the moment. And then I saw the area where the worker stood, almost eight months prior, with his Clemson hat on. I walked over and took a pic, just for my own sake, and counted down the hours.
Now, if you know Nikki, you know she has social obligations on game days. Friends and, coworkers and family want to see her, talk to her, and I usually walk several miles chasing her around while she answers questions and poses for pictures. I took two calls for radio shows - one out of Dallas and one out of Alabama - and made my predictions of a Clemson win, listening to the roars of laughter from the hosts in Birmingham.
Two hours before the kick I made my way back to the field and passed the Clemson locker room. A coach passed by me and asked my prediction, and I looked at him and said, "Shouldn't I be asking you?" His visage turned serious, and he said, "Their pass defense won't stop our receivers and Trevor. If we don't win by double digits I would be surprised."
He was right. The final score was 44-16, and in the confetti and the amazing moments after the game, I looked back over at that spot and saw yet another worker beginning the process of cleaning. I smiled and thought, Dabo was right, it was a sign. And now we've come full circle.
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Scout Team [176]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 1:39 PM
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Awesome David. May it happen again soon!
Go Tigers!
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Orange Blooded [4078]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 1:41 PM
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Amazing story!
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Oculus Spirit [81503]
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That’s a nice find. I bet you have a lot of neat Clemson memorabilia.
Jul 28, 2022, 1:41 PM
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You should write a book about all of your Clemson stories and memories over the years.
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110%er [5182]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 1:45 PM
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Great story. Hopefully you will be writing about the Tigers 2022 National Championship.
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110%er [5773]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 1:50 PM
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Great story of a great day in Clemson history. Glad you got to savor it. I won't get into the details, but I remember getting a call 2 hours before the game from someone close to the team telling me the coaching staff was very confident because of some things they found dissecting the film. That gave me some quiet optimism going into the game, then AJ's pick 6 and BOOM the first half happened and it was game over by mid 3rd qtr. What a game, what a night. Thanks for sharing David.
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Heisman Winner [136448]
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It was a special moment in my life. I wished I could have
Jul 28, 2022, 2:08 PM
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shared it with my younger brother. I was able to share it with MfOjr.
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All-TigerNet [10787]
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Re: It was a special moment in my life. I wished I could have
Jul 28, 2022, 2:21 PM
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absolutely one of the best moments of my life,shared it with the missus and son.no matter what happens, 15-0 will always be there.
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CU Medallion [55744]
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Re: It was a special moment in my life. I wished I could have
Jul 28, 2022, 4:53 PM
[ in reply to It was a special moment in my life. I wished I could have ] |
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I bet that our fans that were at that game, walking out the stadium they felt 8 ft tall and bullet proof with the big S on their chest!!!
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Freshman [-79]
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Thought we would several nattys in a row at least
Jul 28, 2022, 8:13 PM
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Trevor was here.
The dynasty was momentarily derailed, but it's time to take that trophy back!
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110%er [8094]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 2:32 PM
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All-TigerNet [13703]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 2:48 PM
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Great read David! You’ve gotten me excited all over again about what’s to come.
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CU Guru [1574]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 2:52 PM
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Great memory David! I was intrigued in one of Dabo's "post game interviews." He was asked if he was surprised by the victory and he calmly said, "I knew we had the better team." I've been a Clemson Tiger for 60 years and that victory was a defining moment. Yet I still agree with Dabo that "the best is yet to come!" Go Tigers!
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CU Medallion [55744]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 5:05 PM
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Having the close game with Texass A&M, and Syracuse in September that season, then just clobbering everybody else up to the Natty game, you had to feel that team come together after the Syracuse game, and was out there proving to everyone they were the best college FB, and expected to beat Bama like they did. I bet there wasn't a player on that team that didn't feel that Bama was about to get beat up!!!
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CU Medallion [53348]
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Re: Dabo calls his shot in 2018
Jul 28, 2022, 5:30 PM
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Excellent read! Thanks, David.
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CU Medallion [66355]
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Speaking of Called Shots, the Mods have already declared
Jul 28, 2022, 6:47 PM
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this POTD for tomorrow, even though there are almost six hours left in the day!
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All-TigerNet [13308]
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Awesome Story
Jul 28, 2022, 7:57 PM
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Hope Dabo took a trip to LA this summer that we don't know about and saw someone wearing Clemson gear along the way!!
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