Clemson football: Old meets new with many happy returns

Clemson football fans like to believe that “there’s something in those hills” and for most of us who have matriculated at Clemson, there is indeed something that pulls us back to Clemson despite life taking us in different directions, time zones and situations.

All these years later, I can remember my first day on campus as a freshman, the joy of seeing a long lost friend who had moved away in high school and somehow found her way, unbeknownst to me, to the sidewalk in front of Johnstone as I was walking towards her, oblivious.

To this day, I’m still close friends with a guy I got “stuck with” as a roommate my junior year (my first junior year, I should say).

When you live a ways away like I do, going back is even more special.

It appears the same is true for members of the football team, as the spring game brought back not only, NFL talent like Christian Wilkins, Tee Higgins and Austin Bryant, but a former quarterback who transferred.

We’ve known forever that Chase Brice is full of class and the Tweet above further reinforces that belief.

Now a quarterback at Appalachian State, Brice took the time to come back to Clemson, meet Cade Klubnik and express his appreciation for the freshman’s passion for the game.

Brice is beloved by Clemson fans for leading the comeback over Syracuse for the 2018 National Championship team, but also for how he handled his decision to transfer to Duke.

Brice wasn’t the only former quarterback on hand as Kelly Bryant also made his way to Clemson for the game.

It’s one thing for Brice to come back as a favorite son, but another for Bryant, who left under much different circumstances,  to return to Clemson and be around the program.

It speaks volumes not only for the young man, but for the culture and program Dabo has built.

With a transfer of Bryant’s type there is often a rush to judgement from fans and sometimes even teammates, despite not knowing all, or even any, of the facts.

Motives and intentions get misconstrued and loyalty questioned.

Hopefully those fences are mended, if they were ever even broken, because if you’ve spent any time in those hills in the Upstate as a student at Clemson, you’re going to want to go back.