Tuesday July 13, 2010

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I know I have written four or five blogs over the last few years on the subject of leadership and how important the intangibles can be for a football team. Last night I had another memorable conversation on the subject and this time it was with a Super Bowl Champion.

I thought last night was going to be nice because it was the first time Mac’s Drive In was open in over a week (They close for about a week every July 4th). But a familiar face walked through the front door. It was one of the all-time great leaders in Clemson football history but this time Anthony Waters had something extra special with him—a Super Bowl ring. He actually did not have it on but I asked him if I could see it and a bunch of us took our picture with it.

Mac’s is a lot like Clemson because you never know who you might see because so many love to come back to visit. For those that return, it feels like you never left. It feels like home even if you live somewhere else.

Anthony Waters is one of my all-time favorites because he feels like I do about this place we love. I have no problem admitting that I teared up when I saw him on at the top of The Hill for the last time even though he missed most of his senior season after his knee injury.

The Clemson staff talked about Waters before and after the injury as one of the best leaders they had in the Bowden era. There were stories of how he handled players who got out of line. They talk about Waters the same way the staff talked about Tony Elliott in 2003 or Richard Moncrief in the 1990s. Brian Dawkins was that kind of leader during his days here. Jeff Davis took control and made the 1981 National Champion team his and Waters did the same during his days at Clemson.

Last night was the first time I had talked to Waters since I had him on my radio show the day after his good friend Gaines Adams had passed away. That was a terribly difficult day. Obviously yesterday was a much better day.

It was also the first time I talked to him since the Super Bowl. I asked Waters when he knew this was a special team that had a chance to win the Super Bowl. He said the defensive coordinator, Greg Williams, kept telling the players how special this team was. He said the previous year the Saints lost a bunch of close games in the last few minutes of the game and Williams had convinced the team that they were close to getting over the hump. (BTW-four of Clemson’s five losses last season and six of the eight losses Clemson has suffered under Dabo have been by less than a touchdown).

Waters says that leadership was a key to the Super Bowl. He said the intangibles are the difference in the good teams and the average teams in the NFL. Waters said the teams that have confidence in each other are the ones that reach their potential and this simple concept is the difference even at the highest level.

He also said that is what he sees in this upcoming Clemson team. Waters said this spring he came and sat in some defensive meetings and he said he loves what the defensive staff at Clemson is trying to do schematically. He also says that he thinks this is a talented football team. But Waters added that the key will be for this team to believe. He said the talent level is there but the key will be the leadership.

In many ways this past year has been the best of times and the worst of times for Waters. He lost a great friend when Gaines Adams passed away then a couple of weeks later he won the Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. He experienced the extremes that life can give you within a month’s span.

Maybe Water’s senior year helped him prepare for this kind of emotional roller coaster. He turned down the NFL to come back for his senior season and had the highest expectations. However, the knee injury may have helped him understand that you can never take anything for granted…even a close friend’s life.

A few months have passed and times are better for Waters now. He feels very good about his status with the Saints. He is happy in New Orleans and is just two games away from being vested into the NFLs pension plan. Also Waters seems happy anytime he is back in Clemson.

Waters has had a busy summer. He hosted his second annual football camp for youths back in his hometown of Lake View, SC and now is back in Clemson where he spends some time every summer. He works out twice a day to get ready for his fourth NFL season but he also comes back because he loves being part of this program. In fact, Waters reiterated last night that he still plans to return to Clemson after his NFL days are over. He wants to work within the football program in some capacity and do what he does best—lead.

Waters is 25 and I am 42. He is a 6-3, 238-pound NFL linebacker and I am a 5-11, 208-pound radio talk show host. He is from the Pee Dee and I am from Irmo. But there is one thing we have in common, we both love Clemson. We both want to contribute in any way we can and we see a place full of great potential.

So often you see players that just go through the motions but we feel a special connection when we find an athlete that feels like we do about our community. I always think so many of us would argue for days that we love Clemson more than anyone and I think Waters would join right in that argument.

Clemson is a better place when former players come back home. Banks McFadden loved the place and chose to come back and work here and spend the rest of his life in our community. Whitey Jordan is back home. So is Lawson Holland, Levon Kirkland, Patrick Sapp and Jeff Scott. Brian Dawkins still has so much to give to Clemson and C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford have said they want to make huge impacts after their NFL days are over. And I know Clemson will be an even better place when Anthony Waters comes back home to the place he loves.

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Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers.