An attorney friend of mine is a huge Clemson fan, and he was born and raised in Clemson, SC. We were talking today, and he recounted a story about when he was in 5th grade in (then) Clemson’s only elementary school. He’s sitting in class, when this person (coach, assistant, Admin, whomever) wearing all Clemson gear walks into the classroom, seemingly unannounced. After Clemson dude goes to the teacher and says a few whispered things in private, teacher tells everyone that this is Mr. so-and-so from Clemson, and he’s here (at the school) because he needed their help. Clemson guy says that they are recruiting a guy named Herschel Walker, that he would be the biggest / best recruit that Clemson had ever signed, and that they wanted him to feel welcomed on an upcoming visit to their town - so he wanted every kid in that classroom to write a letter to Herschel Walker, welcoming him to Clemson and urging him to play for the Tigers. The teacher immediately tells them to clear their desk except for a clean sheet of paper, and tells this class of kids starts to begin writing said letters to Herschel Walker. My buddy said that both the teacher and Clemson guy are walking around offering tips / suggestions / critiques, etc. as the kids feverishly worked to write / draw / color their letters. As soon as they are done, the Clemson guy collects the letters, says a quick thanks and leaves. My buddy says that’s how he knew who Herschel Walker was long before he was famous at UGA. He could laugh about it now, but said that it was years before he stopped feeling sadly responsible for Clemson failing to sign him, and wondering if they would have gotten him if only his letter had been better. I told him that it was absolutely his fault, and that he should still feel bad. 100% true story (except for that last bit), thought I’d share.
I didn't read the whole story, I got to the part about south Carolina and said to myself, [uck fay] south Carolina.
