Grant Uses Demotion as Motivation |
CLEMSON -- Seconds after taking in Will Proctor's four-yard scoring pass
midway through the second quarter Saturday, Clemson wide receiver Kelvin Grant stopped at the back of the end zone and flexed his muscles in a Terrell Owens type fashion to a few of the 17,500 at Death Valley. Grants performance in the annual spring game was also Owens like, catching eight passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns. But despite all of the Owens like impressions, including his impressive numbers, Tommy Bowden isn't impressed with his junior wide receiver. Bowden wants Grant to start acting more like a football player, both on and off the field. "I'm getting a short fuse," Bowden told the media. "Aaron Kelly didn't drop any balls and could have made all of those catches... Kelvin was making great strides academically, but in typical fashion, has fallen off the beaten path." That fall came before the start of the Orange and White game. Grant was demoted to second team receiver behind Kelly after showing up for a class six minutes late. "They don't want me to let up," said Grant, who until Saturday had received pretty good reviews this spring from both Bowden and receivers coach Dabo Swinney. "I know that is what they are doing so I am not holding it against them at all." Grant did admit he used the demotion as motivation, keeping in mind he understands he now has to work harder to get back with the first team. "I brought it on myself. I should have set my alarm 10 minutes earlier and gotten up and gone to class," he said. "I was making a statement (Saturday); I was mad. I'm not going to walk around here with my heads in the cloud. I don't mean to down the twos, but I wanted to be out there with the ones." Grant, who also caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Proctor and had the day's longest play from scrimmage a 52-yard reception has put himself in a tough situation and will have to work extra hard to get back in Bowden's good graces. "He is in trouble with me, not academically," Bowden said. "He's in danger with me. I'm stopping where I'm at." Just like Grant did in the back the end zone on his second touchdown catch, this time he flipped the ball back to the official, avoiding further confrontation with his head coach. "I won't dare do that during a game," said Grant about his Owens pose. "I was just getting it out of my system."
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