The story behind Logan Rudolph’s ‘silly’ commitment video

The camera pans left, as Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” plays. It’s either a sequel to “Top Gun” or something strange.

I choose what’s behind door No. 2, Monty.

Logan Rudolph, brother of Oklahoma State Heisman Trophy candidate Mason Rudolph, announced his commitment to Clemson last May in an interesting way. Standing shirtless in the woods, wearing a pair of jean shorts that would make Daisy Duke blush and in the process of chopping down a tree with an axe, Logan announced his pledge.

“That was my idea. I claim all the copyrights and trademarks of that,” Mason said. “Our dad does commercial real estate so Logan said, ‘Hey, what if we went into some of dad’s houses, and I’ll bust through some of the drywall and you video it?’ I said, ‘Logan, I don’t think Dad would like us breaking through his walls.’

“The axe and the wood was a simple deal. I am still claiming it.”

The younger Rudolph was a four-star prospect and enrolled at Clemson in January. His senior year at Northwestern High was limited to five quarters after a shoulder injury. Logan opted for surgery so he’d be in top shape for the 2017 season.

A heat-seeking missile as defensive end with the Trojans (24.5 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks as a junior), he projects as a linebacker at Clemson. He wore a harness on the shoulder during spring practice and didn’t have any problems.

Other than the video.

“I can claim no credit nor blame for that,” dad Brett Rudolph said. “Mason was the executive producer, and Logan was the B actor in it. The good news was it wasn’t offensive, it was silly. He got a lot of mileage out of it.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2017 at 5:46 PM with the headline "The story behind Logan Rudolph’s ‘silly’ commitment video."