Clemson: The New Wide Receiver Univerisity
By: Christopher Hall
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For as long as I can remember in my short life as a Clemson fan, there has never been a lack of talent at the wide receiver position. Even before I came onto the scene in 1992, Tiger fans were honored with players such as Dwight Clark (2-time Pro Bowler, 2-time Super Bowl Champ) Perry Tuttle, (caught game-winning TD in '81 National Championship against Nebraska.) and Jerry Butler (1-time Pro Bowler), For Tiger fans, Butler is most known for "The Catch" in which he hauled in the game-winning TD from QB Steve Fuller with less than a minute remaining on the clock. Clemson silenced Williams-Brice Stadium that night and escaped with a thrilling 31-27 victory over the Gamecocks back in 1977. That play has gone down in Clemson football history and fans refer to it simply as "The Catch".
In my lifetime, I've seen quite a few solid receivers play in Death Valley as well. I grew up on players such as Derrick "The Noodle" Hamilton and Kevin Youngblood who played in the early 2000's. As well as guys such as Aaron Kelly, Chansi Stuckey, Airese Currie, and Jacoby Ford. And how could I forget Rod Gardner. Gardner is also another memorable Clemson receiver who reeled in what Tigers fans refer to as "The Catch 2". It also came against our arch-rival South Carolina in Death Valley in 2000. Down 14-13 with 19 seconds left in the game, QB Woody Dantzler rolled to his left then threw across the field to his right towards the Clemson sideline and connected with Rod Gardner just inside the 10. Gamecocks fans still argue that it was clearly a push-off and offensive pass interference. Tiger fans will disagree. As you can see the referee was right on top of the play but I'll let you decide that one, (start the video around the 2:23:30 mark) True Freshmen Aaron Hunt would the take the field with about 9 seconds left and kick a field goal as Clemson would survive a nail-bitter, 16-14. Fans rushed the field and took down the goal-post and it was an all night long party in Tigertown.
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