During the 2018 campaign that saw the Clemson Tigers go undefeated and win a National Championship, Kelly Bryant started the first four games of the season. After Week 4, head coach Dabo Swinney informed Bryant that freshman Trevor Lawrence would be taking the snaps as the starter. Bryant then elected to transfer from the program instead of burning a year of eligibility (after four games, he would lose his redshirt status).
Wednesday morning, Swinney told ESPN that former Clemson QB Kelly Bryant won’t be receiving a championship ring. What transpired after was a day of debate on whether Swinney was being deliberately petty since Bryant elected to transfer. After all, Bryant played in the first four games of the season which included a tight game against Texas A&M. Shouldn’t he be rewarded for playing a role in the success of Clemson?
No.
Kelly Bryant should NOT receive a National Championship ring, and this really shouldn’t be a major discussion.
Here’s the bottom line: Kelly Bryant left the team. That’s not me being derogatory toward him in the least bit. I don’t blame him for leaving. He saw the writing on the wall and made a decision that was in the best interest of his career (and can we stop with the bullshit where grown ass adults give 19-year-olds hell for transferring? We get it; you think he’s a quitter. But coaches come and go like a revolving door and that’s cool? Shut up). He knew Trevor Lawrence was going to start the rest of his career, so he used his graduate transfer ability to find a new home in Missouri. Jalen Hurts did the same thing and everyone loves that guy. Including me.
Kelly Bryant is a play-maker that wanted a chance to show his abilities. Every player should. But he absolutely should not get a ring for Clemson’s success. He separated himself from the Tigers after Week 4. He forfeit any ties to success and was not responsible for any future failures of the team. That’s how it works.
Let’s say that I decided to leave my current employer today and start for a new company tomorrow. Now, if my former company wins some award, I don’t get to share in the success. They’re not going to mail me a certificate with a nice card, and I wouldn’t expect them to. Both sides wish each other well and move on. That’s life.
Kelly Bryant shouldn’t expect a ring, and it shouldn’t bother him that it’s not happening. Seriously, what the hell would he do with it? Wear it around Mizzou’s campus? He could just tell people: “Oh, this thing? Yeah, I got this ring for playing in roughly ¼ of the games necessary to win one. Cool, right?”
Is Dabo being petty? Maybe. But he’s not wrong. It sends the message to his team that he wants guys that want to be there. It’s that simple. Petty would have been sending Bryant ¼ of a ring, but then Twitter would have exploded and killed most of sentient life on this planet.
But damn, it would have been something.
Poppa Bear is the Lead SEC Analyst for the SoBros Network, and serves as our resident expert on the human anatomy, fixin’ stuff, and tomatoes. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroPoppaBear
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