Over the years, Clemson football has been very lucky and not had a lot of players leave early for the NFL draft.
However, there have been a few and most of them were selected very high in the draft. It is hard to fault a player for leaving early after they are selected in the first few rounds of the draft, from the business standpoint it made sense.
What if you could bring back a player that still had eligibility? Who would you bring back?
Don’t limit yourself to just the Dabo Swinney era either. There were several elite players throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s that would still be able to play at Clemson if they were coming out of high school now.
That said, looking back through Clemson football history, here are five players that have at least one more year of eligibility that we would love to bring back one more time.
Let’s have some fun for a moment. Don’t take this too seriously. We understand that a couple of these guys are in their 40’s but it is okay to imagine being able to bring back some of the all-time greats for just a season.
5. Keith Adams
- Years at Clemson: 1998-2000
- NFL Draft: 2001 – Seventh Round – Tennessee Titans
- Eligibility Remaining: One season
If you have followed Clemson football during this century, you should know who Keith Adams is. When he left Clemson, he left with the ranked sixth all-time in tackles in program history with 379.
Adams was a finalist for the Butkus and Bednarik Awards in 2000. In 2000, he had 19 tackles for loss and finished with 54 for his three year Tiger career, which was third all-time in Clemson history, behind only Michael Dean and Williams Perry.
He as a two time All ACC selection and an All American selection in 2000.
Keith spent his NFL with the Titans, Cowboys, Eagles, and Dolphins. He helped the Eagles reach Super Bowl XXXIX where they lost to the New England Patriots.