Clemson football fans should be proud of players using their platform to inspire change

Clemson football fans should be proud of the players in the program.

It’s been good to be a Clemson football fan for a while now, but this Sunday feels different.

There was no game played the day before, as no sports are taking place in the United States these days. Instead, we are in the midst of a global pandemic we haven’t seen in 100 years, as well as a social justice movement we haven’t seen to this degree in the country since the mid-1960s. Yet, Clemson football shined brightly on Saturday evening that things are finally changing.

It was a student-led demonstration on the Clemson campus, organized by Trevor Lawrence, Cornell Powell, Darien Rencher and Mike Jones Jr. This peaceful demonstration allowed men like Lawrence and head football coach Dabo Swinney to address the crowd with positivity in a time we’re all craving it.

Though some frustrated and bigoted South Carolinians drove around town in the lead-up to the demonstration with Confederate flags flying off the back of their pickup trucks, Clemson football fought for the positive choice and will be on the right side of history here. For college football‘s preeminent dynasty to pull off something so positive, Clemson fans should be incredibly proud.

Clemson football just won in a big way on a Saturday they didn’t even play.

It was quite the event, as illustrated by the praise it got and the enthusiasm we saw out of Clemson’s players and coaches. Here are some of Clemson’s best tweets regarding the overwhelmingly successful and peaceful demonstration on Saturday evening.

https://twitter.com/trevorlawrencee/status/1271982988092465153

https://twitter.com/_mjones24/status/1271963019841548290

https://twitter.com/clemsonvb/status/1271976737354723328

https://twitter.com/clemsonwsoccer/status/1271976864374898688

https://twitter.com/clemsonwbb/status/1271931638063288321

https://twitter.com/shimmy33/status/1271950130883723264

It was a night to remember in Clemson, South Carolina and one we’ll never forget. Whether it was Lawrence speaking at the podium as the face of college football or his head coach Dabo Swinney shaking off his own criticism regarding BLM with his own powerful speech, Clemson dominated on Saturday evening like the Tigers have done for years. This one felt different because it was.

Clemson may go onto win the College Football Playoff for the third time in five years, but this demonstration goes far beyond what the 2020 team will ever do on the gridiron. Most of the guys on this team already have a national championship victory on their resume. Winning off the field this triumphantly may go down as their greatest accomplishment in school. It means more.

You don’t have to be a Clemson football fan to be proud of what this team did on Saturday.

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