Standout [300]
TigerPulse: 69%
Posts: 377
Joined: 8/5/09
|
It's high time Mr. Kevin Dodd got his props...
Oct 6, 2015, 7:36 PM
|
|
And I think I'm the one to do it.
Kevin, you've come a long ways from my high school science class. You sat in the back corner and never gave me a problem. Very well-mannered kid. I think maybe a little of what I was instructing was probably gibberish to you, but that's all water under the bridge. You were and still are a humble, quiet boy, though so much more mature now, a real man. I learned part of how far you've come when I ran into you on the street of Greenville just this past summer. I could instantly see you were no longer the wiry ninth grade version with the nice frame to which I remember saying, "You coming' out for basketball this year?" (You politely said no at that time, you'd stick with football)
What impressed me most this summer was you instantly recognized me and your opening statement was, "I got a Two point five now." You were as proud of your academic progress as anything else. I am well aware you had taken a detour to Hargrave after recruitment and after high school, to get your academics together, before coming on to Clemson. And that you took a long journey of pulling up your academics to the level of Clemson. This in itself is impressive. Honestly, I wasn't sure you could do it.
Then, at Clemson, you steadily worked, built that awesome frame of yours up, continued plugging away at the academics, and waited your turn. This took, not months, but years. And here you are, finally fulfilling your dream.
Can't say how proud I am to see you throwing linemen and backs around like rag dolls. No throat slashing or celebrations or calling attention to yourself - just going about your work in that quiet way. But the results are Tiger LOUD. You always seem to be in the right position, the edge setter the coaches have called you to be. Now and then, you come through like a ### broke or something, and the running backs are thinking they're run into another buzz saw after running away from Shaq. You are maxing your abilities, and Tiger nation is loving it.
Heck, how old are you now - twenty-three or twenty-four? Everyone looks to you now, even though you might not realize it. Not everyone has to be in the pressers to stand out. Every team needs those quiet leaders, mature guys like you who put the vanity aside, pay their dues, come to work every day with a lunch pail, and deliver when their number is called. You are doing all this and more.
I couldn't be prouder of a former student.
|
|
50
