The All-American and the old ball coach really screwed this one up. After missing Saturday’s game with a rib injury, Clowney admitted there was “some miscommunication” between the two, but said he isn’t sitting out in an attempt to protect his 2014 NFL Draft stock.
Clowney said he simply couldn’t go, and that he’s committed to trying to help the Gamecocks win.
“I’m not looking to sit out. I’m not that type of guy. I’m fully committed I’m here for the team,” Clowney said. “I’m in college. I’m playing for this university right now. That’s people’s opinions. I’m here with my team every day, practicing with my team.”
Clowney, who has a muscle strain near his rib area, didn’t tell the coaches that he couldn’t play last week against Kentucky until after the team arrived at the stadium. Afterward in his postgame press conference, Spurrier — as only he can do — botched the whole thing up when he said that if Clowney "doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t have to play . . . simple as that."
Spurrier then made things worse on Tuesday when he made reference to how much money Clowney has made South Carolina as a player: "All those No. 7 jerseys, and all the money he’s made for our school, he’s been a tremendously important player.”
So we are questioning the star for allegedly making a business decision when he felt he couldn’t go, but the coach can get away with sarcastically mocking the fact that business has been good since his famous hit versus Michigan?
Later Tuesday Spurrier had changed his tune, saying about Clowney: "He was in pain. It was diagnosed later, and obviously we all handled it poorly. All of us did."
“If he never plays another snap here, we all should be thankful and appreciative that he came to South Carolina,” he added. “He’s played his part tremendously. I think we’re 26-5 since he suited up for South Carolina. I’m all for Jadeveon and his future. And when he’s ready to play we’re going to put him out there.”
South Carolina will be favored in every game from here on out with the showdown against Clemson possibly being their toughest test. Spurrier gets the information about his star misconstrued too often, and it’s bad for everyone involved. Is Spurrier feeling some type of way about having a star as huge as Clowney?
Steve Spurrier would only need to look to Clowney’s teammates to determine if he was truly dogging in and had mailed it in on them. His teammates would know.
This article was written by Glenn Erby. Follow him on Twitter here and read more of his work here.
