Tajh Boyd not afraid of Jadeveon Clowney, or anyone
By Mike Dyce
South Carolina Gamecocks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is a bad man. His hit on a Michigan player in the Outback Bowl can show you why opposing players might be afraid of facing Clowney. In fact, Clowney said he can tell when opposing players are afraid of him and called out Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd.
“I can tell Tajh Boyd is scared back there,” Clowney said last Tuesday. “He ain’t no sitting duck, but you can see in his eyes that he’s scared of our D-linemen.”
Boyd said he expected the question at the ACC Football kick off and had a straight and clear answer.
“No, I’m not afraid of anybody, honestly,” Boyd said. “It’s never been in my nature, never been in my character. I’m a competitor. I’m going to compete against whoever wants to compete. And it’ll all take care of itself in due time.”
But Boyd isn’t interested in engaging in a war of words. A sign of maturity and leadership? Definitely. Trying to not motivate a very scary Clowney by responding? Also possible.
“Honestly, I mean, there’s a lot of talking that goes on in college football — on the field and off the field,” he said. “This is one of the more highly publicized things and, honestly, that’s just not in my focus. It’s not on my radar right now. I think it’ll take care of itself when we play them in November and we go down there. Right now I’m just thinking about getting ready for the summer and getting ready for the opener.”
Boyd has yet to beat South Carolina in his time at Clemson.
“He’s a really good player — one of the better defensive players in the country,” Boyd said. “… I respect the way he plays, I respect his game. It’ll be fun. We’re looking forward to playing those guys down at their place. It’ll be a fun one.”