Perhaps you saw Clemson's Christian Wilkins grab a little more than what's allowed during the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. If not, let's review.
Wilkins has since apologized, as fans have fallen to two sides of the argument: a) it happens OR b) "Heavens Marianne!" The extra effort applied here, in plain view, is unnecessary, and probably why Wilkins felt the need to apologize for "just being silly" with the groin grab of Curtis Samuel. Linebacker Ben Boulware said this week that Clemson has "done it all year to mess with players," but they usually try to be more discreet.
"Christian went a little too far," Boulware said, via ESPN. "But I'll mess with somebody, poke them in the belly button, grab someone's butt. People freaking out about that have never played the game or they were losers with no friends when they played. It's annoying it's brought so much attention to it, trying to divert the attention that we beat them by 31 points."
The scrum at the bottom of the pile has always been a bar fight of poking, grabbing and prodding for as long as football has existed. Boulware cited the physical nature of football and the closeness of an 85-plus player team as reasons why they might be desensitized to the extracurricular activity.
"The game is so serious and locked in, and you do stuff to break up the seriousness of the game," Boulware said. "People are trying to say sexual assault, and people who say that have never played football, never been in a locker room, seen the weird stuff -- we're together every day for years, and you get very comfortable with each other."
Now that Clemson has been put on blast, maybe they'll switch to tickling at the bottom of the pile just to catch Alabama off guard. With a thin margin for error in the title game, every psychological edge matters.
