Okay, let’s talk about something I spent a bit of time digging into recently: Christian Wilkins during his Clemson days. It wasn’t like some major project, more like falling down a bit of a rabbit hole, you know?
How It Started
It actually kicked off pretty simply. I was watching some NFL game, saw Wilkins make a play for the Dolphins (or maybe it was the Raiders now, doesn’t matter), and it just got me thinking. I remembered that Clemson run they had, felt like they were unbeatable for a few years there. And Wilkins was always right in the middle of it, big personality, always seemed to be having fun.
So, I thought, let me actually go back and refresh my memory on what made him so special back then. It’s easy to just remember the championships, but I wanted to recall the why. What was his actual impact day-to-day, game-to-game?
The Digging Process
First thing I did was pull up some old rosters and stats. Just wanted to see the basic numbers, the tackles, sacks, all that jazz. Numbers are okay, but they don’t tell the whole story, right?
So then, I started hunting down old game highlights on YouTube. Not just the highlight reels, but longer cuts, trying to watch defensive series. I wanted to see him off the ball too, how he took on blocks, his effort level when the play went away from him. Spent a good couple of evenings just watching clips, game footage from like 2016 through 2018.
Then I remembered some of the quirky stuff. Didn’t he play offense sometimes? Yeah, so I looked that up. Found those goal-line packages where they’d stick him in as a blocker or even give him the ball. That was fun to re-watch.
I also tried finding some old interviews, articles from back then. Wanted to get a feel for what coaches and teammates were saying about him during that time, not just looking back now with hindsight.
What Really Stood Out
Watching all that stuff, a few things really jumped out at me, beyond just being a disruptive defensive tackle.
- Versatility: We talk about it now in the pros, but man, at Clemson? He was lining up all over the defensive line. And yeah, the goal-line offense stuff was real. That takes a special kind of athlete and willingness.
- Energy: You could just feel it watching the footage. The guy was always hyped up, celebrating with teammates, bringing that juice. Seems like the kind of player who lifts the whole team’s spirits. You can’t measure that on a stat sheet.
- The Smart Thing: I vaguely remembered he was a good student, but then I saw again he actually got his degree, like, while playing top-level college football and being an All-American. That’s seriously impressive time management and dedication right there. Shows a different kind of drive.
- Leadership: It wasn’t just rah-rah stuff. Watching him, you could see him directing traffic sometimes, talking to the younger guys. He grew into a real leader on that defense.
And yeah, the splits! Can’t forget the post-game championship splits. That was pure Wilkins. Big dude like that being so flexible, just showed off that personality again.
Final Thoughts
So yeah, that was my little dive back into Christian Wilkins at Clemson. Started with a random thought during an NFL game and ended up reminding me just how much of a force he was back then. It wasn’t just the talent, though he had tons of it. It was the whole package – the energy, the smarts, the leadership, doing weird stuff like playing offense, and having a blast while doing it. Really cemented my view of him as one of the key pieces of that whole Clemson dynasty.
