ESPN Gameday’s Tom Rinaldi has anointed Clemson Tiger’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence the most famous college athlete today.
Trevor Lawrence is the most famous collegiate athlete alive today; and I’m; not the only one making that statement.
On ESPN’s College Gameday, analyst Tom Rinaldi formally anointed the star-studded Clemson Tigers quarterback that title. While it may sound like Rinaldi (and myself) may need to be committed to the insane asylum for making such a claim, here us out.
When you’re the face of the team that demolished the No. 1 team in college football in the National Championship Game, you have a right to be treated as a college football God, and Lawrence fits the profile. He has the good looks, the long, flowing hair and a game that, if the injury bug doesn’t bite him, will surely make him the top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The “Thor of College Football” is that good, but putting him in such a high pedestal also comes with some blowback. For starters, Clemson fans will be savoring a repeat of his season a year ago, when Lawrence threw for 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions, truly Thor-like numbers.
You can count that Clemson’s opponents — especially in the ACC — will be fine turning their gameplan to stop him. Then there’s the potential that he could slip a step this season. Even though he helped lead Clemson to a dominating 52-14 home blowout over rebuilding Georgia Tech, Lawrence only had a pedestrian day on the field, completing 13-of-23 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown, while throwing two interceptions.
This is the Lawrence fans in Death Valley are not used to seeing, and the hope is that this won’t be an arbitration for the 2019 season so Lawrence can continue being the most famous college athlete alive.