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CUTrevor
2020-06-03 15:17:40
For those of you who haven't heard or read the story, Clemson Tight Ends/Special Teams Coach Danny Pearman has been under fire over the last 24 hours for an incident that occurred at practice in 2017. Kanyon Tuttle, son of Clemson legend Perry Tuttle and cousin of Saints DT Shy Tuttle, was a walk-on WR at the time after transferring from SC State. On Twitter a couple days ago, he criticized a Clemson Football tweet, saying they did nothing about a coach using the "N-word" at practice. The incident to which he refers occurred when TE D.J. Greenlee (who is black) made a missed an assignment in practice and used the N-word while discussing it with fellow TE Milan Richard (also black). An angry Danny Pearman then repeated the N-word, quoting Greenlee, while yelling at the two players. Greenlee has since confirmed that Pearman did not direct the word at him or any other player. Pearman discussed the incident with Dabo right after and apologized both to him and the team. While I do not know Danny Pearman well on a personal level, I can tell you I played golf with him for a few hours at Dabo's annual media golf tournament several years ago and have interviewed him several times. He is a good man in my opinion and NOT racist in any way, shape or form. Pearman, of course, played for Clemson in the 80's, and he coached Dabo at Alabama on their 1992 national championship team. He also coached on the Alabama staff with Dabo for a few years before going to Virginia Tech to coach under well-respected Hall of Famer Frank Beamer. Pearman has coached several black tight ends at Clemson over the years, such as Jaelyn Lay, DJ Greenlee, Milan Richard, Brandon Ford and NFL veteran Dwayne Allen, and this is the first bad thing anyone has ever said about him. I don't know if Tuttle has an axe to grind with Dabo and/or Clemson or if he is just looking to stir the pot. Tuttle was only on the team for a year or two and recorded just 2 catches for 6 yards. I don't believe he graduated from Clemson. In my opinion, it is a reach for anyone to accuse Clemson or Dabo of a culture of racism or even to criticize them for not doing more. Pearman made a one-time mistake by repeating a word that had just been used by one of his players, and he immediately apologized for it. The N-word is a despicable word, and in my opinion, it needs to be eradicated from the English language by ALL of us. That includes athletes, rappers, what have you. Anyone who hates that word should never use it in any circumstance. Tuttle accused Dabo of handing down no repercussions after the incident, but we don't know if that is the case. Again, no other players seemed to be angered by what Pearman said, including the two players he was talking to directly. All I know is that Dabo and Pearman have coached literally hundreds of black players, and this is the first negative thing that's been said about them. Dabo has not released a statement regarding Danny Pearman, but I'll keep you posted. I hope that Pearman is not terminated over this. On his Twitter account, he pinned a black screen with the caption, "Matthew 22:39," which is the Golden Rule: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. |
