Note: The following appears in the Virginia football gameday program.
As Clemson’s sports information director during the C.J. Spiller era, I have a lot of stories about his incredible accomplishments on the gridiron. But my favorite story about him does not involve a long kickoff return, long run from scrimmage or reception. It did not take place during a game at all.
During Spiller’s senior year when we were promoting him for the Heisman Trophy, he did all his media interviews each Tuesday between 10:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., just prior to Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s 11 a.m. press conference, a time when the most media would be in attendance.
One Tuesday during the middle of the season, I received a call from Spiller about 20 minutes before his scheduled appearance.
Spiller was calling to let me know he had a flat tire and would have to reschedule. The thing I remember most about the story is that he called me before he called AAA. That was Spiller. If he made a commitment, he stuck to it.
My good friend, Sanford Rogers, a spotter and statistician on the Clemson radio network, has a similar story. In 2017, the Florence IPTAY Club arranged for Spiller to speak at its season-opening banquet. Over 500 people were scheduled to attend.
Spiller was scheduled to fly from Greenville to Florence for the banquet that afternoon, but thunderstorms were in the forecast.
Rogers called Spiller to see if it was possible to drive him from Greenville to Florence, a near seven-hour roundtrip in total.
“What time do you want me to meet you,” said Spiller, who never gave a second thought to canceling the appearance.
“We made the drive in time, and C.J. did a wonderful job with his talk,” recalled Rogers. “When it was over, the people running the event made plans to give Spiller a quick exit. C.J. said no, these people had come to see him and he was going to stay to sign autographs. He stayed for 45 minutes and signed all the requests.”
Those two stories are all you need to know about Spiller.
We all know there is so much more to Spiller, who will be inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor this weekend, the highest award presented by the Clemson athletic department.
Spiller came to Clemson from the state of Florida as a five-star running back in 2006. It was a landmark signing, because Clemson had missed out on many outstanding players from the Sunshine State in the previous decade.
But fortunately, Wide Receivers Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Dabo Swinney had a…