Sports

South Carolina Desecrated Clemson’s Field By Whipping Logo With Belt After Multiple Physical Altercations

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Clemson South Carolina Fight Fans Belt
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Clemson lost to South Carolina on Saturday and the postgame scene on the field at Memorial Stadium might lead the university to reconsider its college football traditions. Gamecocks fans desecrated their rivals’ logo after multiple physical altercations with opposing players.

The unfortunate series of events is something the Tigers will need to evaluate moving forward.

As is tradition at Clemson, fans are invited onto the field after the game to “Gather at the Paw” and sing the alma mater. That happens win or lose. Fans end up on the field after victory or defeat and there are not any rules to prevent the opposing fanbase to join them. Anyone in the stadium can, in essence, storm the field after every single home game. For example:

Well, after the loss to South Carolina, there were just as many (or more) Gamecock fans who “gathered at the Paw” as there were Tigers fans. Clemson players did not appreciate the constant bombardment from the visitors, who shoved cameras in their faces and talked crazy. They snapped.

Tempers flared between Clemson and South Carolina!

All of the mayhem started with a flag plant, which was a theme across college football. It only escalated from there.

Redshirt junior defensive end Zaire Patterson slapped a phone out of a visiting fan’s hand. 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle Tré Williams grabbed a different fan by his shirt and dragged him away.

Clemson eventually cleared their players off of the field but South Carolina stuck around. Nick Emmanwori was explicitly told by a fan not to touch the home team’s sacred rock. He did so anyway.

The Gamecocks’ star defensive back also laid down at the midfield logo and dirtied a (potentially stolen?) Tigers towel. His teammate wore a Clemson visor while smoking a cigar with the rivalry trophy.

Meanwhile, fans hung around on the field. They desecrated the midfield logo and beat the Tiger Paw with belts.

Some of the players joined in!

According to David Hood, the “longest-tenured writer covering Clemson for the same publication,” South Carolina’s live Gamecock mascot also relieved his bowels on the midfield logo. He said the owners did not pick up the poop in a post to X that could soon be deleted due to potential inaccuracies.

Justin King serves as the Senior Associate AD for Football Creative and Branding at The University of South Carolina. By his account of what happened, Hood is a big fat liar.

This is not correct. I was out there the entire time. They took a picture – which they do all the time at away stadiums. The bird did not do any “business”.

These are two genuinely amazing people. Be better than that.

— Justin King

We may never know the truth of what actually happened with Sir Big Spur, but it certainly seems like Hood either made up his narrative or completely misunderstood the situation. Either way, the Cock controversy adds another layer to the chaos.

Clemson’s tradition of ‘Gathering at the Paw’ was put on pause from 2019-2022 “out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of student-athletes, staff, visitors and fans.” What happened on Saturday might/should warrant a reevaluation. The Tigers got embarrassed during and after the game.