Four Clemson football players were named to the AP All-American team, but there were some major snubs on the announced list.
Clemson football continues to get no respect from the media and that was never more prevalent Monday when the AP All-American team was announced.
Four Tigers made the list, but the Tigers had just one first-teamer and several left completely off.
Ohio State and LSU, on the other hand, each had three players placed on the AP All-American first-team alone.
Clemson football players Isaiah Simmons (first-team), Travis Etienne (second-team), John Simpson (second-team) and Tanner Muse (third-team) were the only Tigers to even make the list.
The biggest snub of all? WR Tee Higgins.
How do you list a total of six wide receivers and not include the most impressive play-maker in the nation at the position? Higgins was named the ACC Championship MVP and has now caught eight touchdown passes in the last three games.
Higgins finished the season with 52 receptions for 1,089 yards and 13 touchdowns (20.8 YPC) and has made highlight-reel play after highlight-reel play. To not have him on any of your three teams shows complete ignorance to talent and skill in favor of numbers put up by other guys.
Travis Etienne was voted as the fourth running back on the team, despite leading the nation in yards per carry. Etienne has been nothing but the most explosive player in the country and still didn’t receive votes over Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin), Chub Hubbard (Oklahoma State) and J.K. Dobbins (Ohio State), who he shares second-team honors with.
In addition to Etienne not making the first-team and Higgins not making the team, there were several other Clemson football players who were snubbed.
Trevor Lawrence was left off behind Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma. Jamie Skalski continues to be staunchly overlooked. It’s actually surprising to see Tanner Muse listed when he has probably had the most trouble in the Clemson defensive backfield this season.
The truth is that this team by the AP was determined months ago. The media members who vote already made up their mind who the AP All-Americans were going to be and nothing was going to change their mind.
People can criticize Dabo Swinney for talking about being disrespected, but this is just another example proving his point.