How Brian Dawkins came to Clemson from Patrick Sapp
Feb 1, 2017, 8:53 AM
"Brian went to school with me at that time," Sapp said. "We grew up together, played together. He wanted to go Florida. Florida thought he was too small. At the end, South Carolina was recruiting him. He was going to go to South Carolina because that was really the only other big school he had. Well, about a week before signing day, South Carolina he called up there a couple times and he couldn't get them. He called me and said I'm calling South Carolina and they're not returning my calls. I said hold on I'm going to call Coach Stock. I called Coach Stockstill, I'll come to Clemson but Brian has to come too. We were recruiting Brian a little bit but I don't think he was high on our list. Stock said it's done. That was kind of the last decision that lead me to Clemson was bringing my buddy with me. Look at what he's done in the NFL to this day."
I went to the basketball game that was played during Brian Dawkins' visit. I ran into Coach Stockstill & Dawkins at the memorabilia stand after the game. Brian Dawkins had on his HS jacket with his name on it. I'd seen his name on a recruiting list so I knew who he was. 3* prospect. My only thought was , "Man, that guy looks rough." To me, he looked 35 years old. I doubt that anyone expected him to turn out to be the great player that he was at Clemson or in the NFL.