Meet the Clemson football fan who keeps popping up on TV after the Tigers lose
Tim Cowan was sitting in his usual seat at Memorial Stadium last Saturday, about three rows up from the visiting team bench, when Clemson fell in overtime to Florida State.
He sat in shock for a moment, taking in the loss.
Then he jogged onto the field and became a meme.
That’s the long and short of how Cowan, a 50-year-old real estate agent in greater Atlanta, became a social media sensation on Sunday and brought some levity to a fanbase reeling from Clemson’s first 0-2 start in ACC play since 2010.
After rewatching Saturday’s game, a reporter realized Cowan hadn’t only popped up in the background of Florida State coach Mike Norvell’s postgame ESPN interview, smirking and shaking his head in faux disappointment. He’d done the exact same thing when South Carolina upset Clemson at home in 2022. And when Pittsburgh upset Clemson at home in 2016.
The seasons, games and coaches changed.
But Cowan stayed the same, somehow perfectly situating himself in the background of the on-air postgame interviews following Clemson’s only three home losses in the College Football Playoff era, giving off the vibes of a parent who’s “not mad at you, just disappointed.”
But … how? And why? Speaking from his office in Marietta, Georgia, Cowan said he mostly just wants to keep things light regardless of what happens in Death Valley.
“I was gonna celebrate going to Clemson whether we won or lost and have a good time up there,” he told The State on Monday.
A tradition starts
Some background on Cowan: He’s a 1998 Clemson graduate and football season ticket holder, and he’s already been a staple at home games for years as the “D-Fence” guy, having held up a capital D and cardboard fence sign when opponents are on offense since 2009.
He and his son — who’s in high school but has been going to games with him for years — are also big fans of Gathering at the Paw, a long-running tradition in which Clemson allows fans to stream onto the field postgame and interact with coaches and players, win or lose.
Emphasis: win or lose.
That’s how Cowan found himself crashing the first of three opposing coaches interviews. It was November 2016, and No. 2 Clemson had just lost a stunner to Pittsburgh, 43-42, on a late field goal by Chris Blewitt.
Pitt had entered the game as a 20.5-point underdog.
“That’s kinda the first one when I rolled out there and looked around like, ‘Man, I think I’m the only person that ran on the field after the game,’ ” Cowan said. “Everybody else was in shock in the stands. But they were sitting there interviewing him right there. And I was like, ‘Well, I gotta kinda put my head in there and see what’s going on.’ ”
Indeed, run back the tape of coach Pat Narduzzi’s interview after that game and you can see Cowan in the back right corner, jogging into the shot, almost thrown off by how free of a path he had to walk up right behind Narduzzi and sideline reporter Todd McShay and end up on ESPN.
Never much of a trash talker, Cowan said once he realized he was on live he was “very cautious not to say any bad words and get caught doing something stupid like that on TV. I wanted to just shake my head, ‘Whatever. ’ … I knew people at home knew me would be sitting at home there watching like, ‘Yep there he is. Disappointed.’ ”
So he shook his head a few times, called it a day and gladly waited seven years to do it again. After the Pitt loss Clemson won two national championships and an ACC-record 40 straight home games, which also tied for the eighth-longest home winning streak in FBS history.
But that changed in November when coach Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks stunned the No. 8 Tigers in their annual rivalry game, charging back from down 14 to score their first Palmetto Bowl victory since 2014 behind a signature performance from quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Cowan described that postgame scene as a bit more of a “madhouse” — after rushing the field with dozens of USC fans and positioning himself behind Beamer and ESPN’s Molly McGrath, he lost his spot for a second and had to nudge his way back in — but he still made it on TV.
Getting on TV, going viral
So, by the time FSU toppled Clemson 31-24 in overtime last Saturday, Cowan was operating like a seasoned veteran. He reached midfield before McGrath even finished her first question to Norvell and stood behind him, deadpanning, for the entirety of his 90-second interview.
Larry Williams, the TigerIllustrated.com reporter who first brought the pattern to light Sunday after the Florida State game, joked on the platform X (formerly Twitter) that Cowan “wants his distress known.” Clemson fans were also amused, specifically at his FSU performance.
“That is hilarious. My wife and I cried laughing.”
“An icon … this guy is committed.”
“Wow. He has my utmost respect. Totally not kidding. This is the best live trolling I’ve seen in some time.”
Cowan said he’s not exactly “trolling,” noting that he’s popped up in a number of coach Dabo Swinney’s on-field interviews after Clemson wins, often waving his “D-Fence” sign. More than anything else, he enjoys hitting the field because it’s a tradition for him and his family.
He also thinks it’s cool how opposing fan bases can do the same thing, since postgame field access for fans (outside of storming the field after an upset) isn’t the norm at most stadiums. Just as long as they understand he’s joining him on the field, too, to represent the home team with a disappointed head shake that’s generated nearly 600,000 social media views as of Tuesday.
“I remember we used to lose three or four games a year and I’d be pissed off after those games,” Cowan said, laughing. “I think as I got older and we went through this last stretch where you lose once in a blue moon it’s kinda just, ‘Hey, we don’t have to go through this too often. But we’re down here.’ ”
This story was originally published September 27, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
