Is it a bad look by Clemson and Dabo Swinney not to give Kelly Bryant a ring for the Tigers championship after he transferred mid-season?
Kelly Bryant began the season as the starter at Clemson before losing his job to Trevor Lawrence which led to him leaving the team in the middle of the year during the team’s run to a national title.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney got his second championship ring as a coach, but Bryant did not receive a ring after leaving the team following his demotion after four starts. That decision has been the subject of today’s college football controversy on social media.
“He wasn’t on the team. You’ve gotta be on the team to get a ring,” Swinney told ESPN. “I love Kelly and appreciate what he did for us, but he decided to move on.”
Bryant left the team in late September and called the decision to start Lawrence, the nation’s No. 1 recruit who would throw a freshman record 30 touchdowns, a slap in the face. Bryant went 16-2 in his time as the Clemson starter over two seasons and has since transferred to Missouri where he’ll be eligible this year as a graduate transfer.
This is not a case of Swinney and Clemson being petty. This is a case of Bryant not being on the team that won the national championship. It’s really as simple as that.
Over the last year or two, it’s been trendy to bag on Swinney for his comments on amateurism while he signed a $91 million contract, but in this case, Swinney is absolutely right.
Bryant quit the team. Giving him a ring for the accomplishments of the teammates he left in September would be a weird way to reward someone who quit on his team when things got rough for him.
That’s not what leaders to.
There’s an old saying, “Those who stay will be champions” about players sticking with the team or school through challenging times and persevering so you can enjoy the good times on the other end.
Bryant didn’t do that. He could have stuck around and helped mentor Lawrence as he took the reigns of the offense and became the face of college football. But Bryant didn’t do that. He did what was best for Kelly Bryant, not what was best for Clemson.
He let his teammates down, and he lost out on a chance to win a national championship. He’ll never have that opportunity again.
To Bryant’s credit, I haven’t seen him say anything about wanting the championship ring. He may not think he is worthy or deserving of it. He did help Clemson win the games he started, including a close win on the road vs. Texas A&M. Without his efforts, perhaps Clemson loses that game and the College Football Playoff committee looks differently on Clemson. That’s probably a reach considering how well Lawrence and the defense played. After all, they beat Alabama, who the nation crowned as national champions in October, handing Nick Saban his worst loss with the Crimson Tide.
There have been plenty of instances of players receiving rings after they were traded or injured earlier in the season and they were unable to participate in the actual championship game. But the difference between those cases and Bryant is Bryant voluntarily left the team.
He didn’t stay. He’s not a champion. Therefore, he doesn’t get a ring.
This isn’t little league sports where participants get a trophy just for showing up.