Clemson Tigers are planning to spotlight social justice on game days this season
Clemson has spent the past several weeks preparing for the 2020 college football season — but that hasn’t solely consisted of getting ready to make plays on the field.
Yes, the Tigers have been working on developing timing in the passing game, creating depth on the offensive line and making sure several new starters on defense are ready for larger roles. But Clemson has also been planning ways to bring awareness to social justice on game days this fall. That begins Saturday when the Tigers play at Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
“We’re going to do our own thing in the ways other people have done. We’ve got some stuff we want to wear. Some stuff we want to stand for. And hopefully the message and the delivery is just like the Clemson brand,” running back Darien Rencher said Tuesday. “We want to stand for change and be aggressive, but at the same time be aware of how to present the message so people can hear it.”
Clemson players held several planning meetings leading up to the season to decide the most effective methods in which to bring awareness to social justice.
The players also met with head coach Dabo Swinney, athletics director Dan Radakovich and Clemson President Jim Clements to make sure that they were kept in the loop and approved of what was being proposed.
“We’ve been communicating about everything every step of the way,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “It’s taken a lot of collaboration. Things like this aren’t easy. Not everyone’s going to get what they want. But also you have to give people a voice and you have to empower people to do what they think will be impactful. So I think we’ve all worked really well together, had a lot of meetings.”
Rencher made it clear that the team didn’t want to do anything unless everyone was on board.
“The past couple of weeks have just been really big. The leadership on the team. The PAW journey ambassadors, just listening to everybody’s feedback on some ideas that were presented to the team,” Rencher said. “And then hearing what everybody was comfortable with. What people wanted to push for more. And kind of like getting everything past the coach and everybody else in the building, even our AD and our president.”
Rencher and Lawrence declined to share specifics of what the Tigers will do on game days this fall.
Lawrence, Rencher and other college football players around the country posted on social media over the weekend that: “On game days we will use our platforms to raise awareness via wearing shirts, utilizing statements on our helmets and jerseys, and playing tribute videos to recognize victims of racial injustice and share our own stories.”
Lawrence added Tuesday that some of Clemson’s plans will be on display this weekend, while others will take place in the coming weeks.
“There will be some things that aren’t done for a couple of games just for time purposes,” Lawrence said. “We can’t get everything together before the first game. There will be some stuff this week that you guys will notice. I’m not exactly sure which ones will be this week and the week after. So still kind of pending on that.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
