Premeditated Ejection

Clemson star linebacker James Skalski came to hit and hurt LSU Monday night. I respect and like that in a player.

He made two signature hits of note. He legally damaged Joe’s ribs on one, and he was ejected after hitting Jefferson on the other.

What do I mean by signature? Skalski runs as fast as he can and launches himself crown of helmet first. This guarantees a hard hit, and increases the chance of injury. Injury to himself and others. Paralysis and death can occur to the player hitting with the top of the helmet. This is why he wears the old fashioned “horse collar”.

Now James is young and dumb. He thought risking ejection, paralysis, and death were worth it. Fortunately, he got the best of the three, ejection. Maybe he learned his lesson and won’t put himself at risk in the future. Maybe.


Unfortunately, the real culprits were not ejected.

We may excuse him for being young and dumb, and not fully appreciating that the risks are not worth the rewards. But his coaches not only allowed this young man to risk life threatening injuries, they encouraged it! If Joe had been knocked out, they might have had another championship. If James ended up as a paraplegic, the game would have ended the same for all but James.

James may or may not have learned a lesson, but the “responsible adult” Clemson coaches have not. Swinney and Venables should sit out the first half of Clemson’s next game. Dabo Swinney because he is the Head Coach and the buck stops there. And Brent Venables, Associate Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, and Linebackers Coach because he failed to teach and insist that the young man use proper technique.

Maybe this will teach all three a lesson that they should have learned long ago.