I’ve been meaning to get your opinions on this all week, but have just gotten the chance to sit down and get it out there. Some of you may remember Ray Ray McElrathby, a running back on the Clemson Tiger football team. He wasn’t a big contributor on the field, but off the field he was an all-star. He took in his little brother and cared for him while going to college and playing a major division I sport. Clemson saw their chance to “pimp” their good citizen and get a lot of good publicity for going the extra mile to help in this admirable situation. But scholarship crunches in college football are a bitch. I mean, how can a team be expected to jump out of the gates only to collapse halfway through the season year after year without bringing in new blood? Clemson may have found the answer: kick a good student, and a good kid off the team. Oops, sorry, not kick them off, but not renew their scholarship. Classless, but I mean, it IS Tommy Bowden we’re talking about here. As much respect as I have for Bobby Bowden, I despise Tommy as much or more.
It would be wrong not to at least mention the fact that Ray is set to graduate a year early in August, which is a huge accomplishment with all the external forces acting against him. And yes, Clemson has offered him a graduate asst. role on the team, just no more suiting up. Clemson had no problem flaunting their generosity and compassion, so it’s only fair to point out their self-serving attitude as well. Karma is a bitch Tommy!
U make an excellent point Wolfman. Clemson rode this publicity stunt as long as they could and then once the luster was gone so was Ray. From all I have seen and can tell he is a top notch kid and it’s a shame these things happen.