Tanner Muse: Bottled up fury released on fall Saturday afternoons

Muse celebrates his sack of Ryan Finley last Saturday

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Tue Oct 23 17:54:40 GMT-04:00 2018

CLEMSON – The Tanner Muse you see on a typical Sunday afternoon in Belmont, North Carolina, and the Tanner Muse you see on a Saturday afternoon in Death Valley are two totally different people.

The stress of being a college student, a young person and student-athlete can overwhelm some people, but for Muse, he saves up all of the stress and pressure he feels during the week and unleashes it on unsuspecting quarterbacks and wide receivers.

When Muse tallied the first sack of his career last Saturday and fans saw the pure, raw emotion, that was stress relief.

“I just bottle it up most of the time. All of the stress, outside things hitting me - mom and dad, family, pressure, things like that,” Muse said Tuesday afternoon. “I just try to keep it all bottled in and keep a cool head all week and I just let it go on the weekend.”

Add in the fact that Muse’s dad Kevin – @BigPapa9698 on Twitter – doesn’t hesitate to send the younger Muse any and all criticism or ‘hate tweets’ and Tanner doesn’t lack for firepower on Saturdays in the fall.

“I guess I get it from my dad because he's a hot head. He'll send me things that people are saying here and there to try and give me a boost, like a do this and prove them wrong type deal,” Muse said of his dad. “I just let it all come in and fuel the fire. I get it from him. He tries to keep me level-headed and tries to get me to be that top player that he and mom want me to be.”

However, if you happen to run into Muse on random Sunday or while he is back home in North Carolina, you might never know that he’s one of the fiercest competitors on the Clemson football team.

“Off the field, I'm just a chill guy. I just do my own thing. I hang around my friends,” Muse said. “I have a good, core group of guys that I hang out with. I enjoy golfing. I went golfing on Sunday. I enjoy bowling, being on the water. Back home, I live on the lake so I like to ski and tube. I like to have a good time. I like being around the family and friends and having a good time.”