Tempers flared before the opening kickoff of Saturday’s game between South Carolina and Clemson, and players on the Gamecocks side claim the scuffle began over a racist remark.
South Carolina linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams told reporters after his team’s 56-7 loss that a Clemson offensive lineman used the N-word during warmups.
“They called one of our defensive linemen, they used the N-word,” Allen-Williams said, per David Caraviello of The Post and Courier. “An offensive lineman, I don’t know his number. … We’re going to get our get-back. Next year we play them in Williams-Brice Stadium, and we’re definitely going to have that game circled.”
Allen-Williams would not give the accused player’s name. Another South Carolina player tweeted that he and his teammates had racial slurs hurled at them from fans.
Never thought I would hear so many racial slurs in my life!! Classless is not a strong enough word to describe the actions!
— Terry Googer (@D1MANOS) November 27, 2016
My experience was with fans! I can't speak for any other player on my team https://t.co/RF2nBjHS56
— Terry Googer (@D1MANOS) November 27, 2016
In addition to the alleged racist remark, South Carolina players were unhappy with Clemson calling back-to-back timeouts with less than seven minutes remaining in a blowout.
“I think they kind of disrespected us at the end,” defensive back D.J. Smith said. “Holding the ball and doing all that showboating, I felt like that wasn’t really classy. But it is a rivalry game. It’s going to stick with all of us, and we’re going to remember.”
You knew Clemson was going to give it their all, and head coach Dabo Swinney made that clear when he made these comments about resting players earlier in the week. Extracurriculars are always expected in an in-state rivalry game, but racism should never be a factor.
