Clemson football star Trevor Lawrence embracing leadership role on and off-field

In a chaotic offseason, Trevor Lawrence’s leadership shines through.

Trevor Lawrence is not just a fantastic quarterback, he’s a tremendous leader.

The star player on the Clemson football team has become as big of a leader off it as he has been on it heading into what will likely be his final college football season. Clemson is the co-favorite to win the College Football Playoff, but the Tigers have not had anything close to a normal offseason. Then again, none of our springs have been what we’d define as normal.

While Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has been the antithesis of what you’d hope to see out of the face of a blue-blood Power 5 program, it has been his star quarterback who has picked up the slack.

When Swinney says he’s “just another football coach” and wears “Football Matters” t-shirts, it has been Lawrence who has not only defended his coach, but gone above and beyond the call of duty as a student-athlete.

Trevor Lawrence has shown us how to be better leaders in our communities.

Jeff Benedict of Rubbing the Rock went into great detail about how Lawrence fully understands his platform as the Clemson starting quarterback to make positive and transformative changes in and around his community.

“Trevor Lawrence is unafraid to upset people that will disagree with the stand that he is taking,” wrote Benedict. “In a day and age where so many people care what others think about them, Lawrence has come out and said that if someone disagrees with the stance he has taken on equality, he does not want them as a fan.”

Lawrence and three of his Clemson teammates in wide receiver Cornell Powell, running back Darien Rencher and linebacker Mike Jones Jr. have organized a march in protest of George Floyd’s murder by the Minneapolis police in support to the Black Lives Matter movement. This march will take place at 6:00 p.m. ET Saturday evening at Bowman Field on the Clemson campus.

Lawrence could have sat back and focused on football and only football. At 6-foot-6 with a rocket arm and great mobility, he will be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft when he declares. Lawrence has a fantastic shot of being the first Heisman Trophy winner in Clemson football history. Through in a playoff berth and maybe another national title and he becomes a college football legend.

But Lawrence is proving to be way, way more than that.

The rising junior understands he has to be the leader on and off the field at a place like Clemson. His head coach is not holding up his end of the bargain and Lawrence must deliver. It’s only been a few weeks, but man, has Lawrence been absolutely crushing it off the field. He has the full support of his teammates, his community and the sports world at large.

Lawrence gets it, as he’s using his platform to do greater things well beyond the world of sports.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.