Feeling awfully thankful today

Jan 8, 2016, 3:31 PM

Thankful for the game of football, that brings so many of us together and given us some of the greatest joy I've experienced.

I grew up watching Tommy beating his dad for the very first time in '03, Chad Jasmin scoring what felt like a million touchdowns against South Carolina... jumping up and down in my middle school English class when I heard the best recruit out of the state of Florida was going to sign with Clemson, and I remember even more vividly watching that guy juke the life out of two Georgia Tech players as a freshman in those purple uniforms that were so awesome to the 13 year old version of me, and I remember how angry I was when I read on my dad's laptop that he wouldn't be attending the Heisman ceremony in New York. I remember dad yelling at the TV when that terrible fight between those chickens from Columbia broke out. I remember chanting "DABO, DABO, DABO" on the field after a rainy win over South Carolina back in '08. I remember a what felt like a great season in '07 and a heartbreaking loss on New Year's Eve in Atlanta to our Tiger cousins from Alabama, and I remember signing the highest ranked class in school history that would help us avenge the loss to Auburn by beating their in state rival.

I also remember watching us lose that game to Alabama and doing yard work for my dad to earn money so that I could pay off the $20 bet I had lost to a friend I was in school with. I remember Aaron Kelly drop the pass that would have sent us to Tampa. I remember the field goal against the Gamecocks in '06 that I still to this day swear was good (maybe I should let go)... I remember losing to Wake Forest and Tommy stepping down, and thinking who in the hell is this Dabo guy? I remember losing five in a row to the inbreds, and sitting in Bank of America stadium as a senior in high school for the Meineke Car Care Bowl listening to a few ######### talk bad about Dabo and renaming him "Dumbo Swinney."

No, I didn't enjoy the pleasures of the 1980's. I've never seen Clemson win the National Title. Heck, I didn't see us win the ACC until my Freshman year of college. I would get giddy when I saw a Tiger Paw during an ESPN talk show, and now we're all they talk about. Though many consider these years the most worthless in modern Clemson football history, they were the years that taught me how to love the game of football. Looking up at Charlie Whitehurst while he signed my football was like having a Greek God acknowledge me. I sure have soaked in these past 5 years of football, and I pray they aren't being taken for granted.

I'm thankful for all of these experiences, and loving the average Clemson Tiger football team has made these recent years even sweeter. I'm thankful for the 80,000 beautiful sons and daughters of Clemson that I am lucky enough to spend my fall Saturdays with. I'm thankful for the game that made me fall in love with a beautiful place in the hills of Upstate South Carolina; the place that has brought my family together, helped me get a steady job, and gave me the best memories I could ask for from the day I was born, till my college days, and the desk I sit at today. That Dumbo Swinney guy hasn't done an awful job either.

GO TIGERS, WIN THE NATTY!!!

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Feeling awfully thankful today

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