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LOOK: Legendary Clemson linebacker Levon Kirkland takes in Tigers' practice

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•08/08/22
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One of the great things about being a college football player at a prestigious institute is the ability to rub elbows with some of the legendary athletes to wear the uniform. And during the Clemson Tigers Monday practice, the Tigers had one of their legends front and center at fall camp taking in all the action.

Clemson posted the pictures below of former All-American linebacker Levon Kirkland at practice. Kirkland may have played on the second level, but from one of the pictures, it appears he took an interest in the Tigers defensive line. In particular defensive tackle no. 11 Bryan Bresee.

After enjoying a stellar college career, Kirkland continued to dominate at the NFL level with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh selected him in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft with pick 38. He spent the first nine years of his pro career with the Steelers, racking up a ton of accolades, including Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors in 96 and 97, along with being named to the NFL 90s All-Decade team. At the turn of the century, Pittsburgh decided to part ways with their star linebacker due to salary cap issues. Kirkland finished the final two years of his career with the Seattle Seahawks followed by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Having a former star of the program present at practice is always great. But having one with the pedigree of Kirkland and the accolades to prove it is huge. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is looking to return his defense to its national championship levels of the past. And bringing in Kirkland could go a long way to inspiring the young men currently representing the Tigers football program.

Swinney uses slide to officially kick off Clemson fall camp

If anybody is going to have some fun coaching college football, it’s Dabo Swinney. The Clemson head coach brings a positive energy into his program, wanting to enjoy every aspect of the sport as much as his players. On Friday, he showed off that side of him again, officially kicking fall camp off for the Tigers.

Facilities around the country have a lot of unique features but Clemson’s slide is one of the more entertaining ones. Swinney used it to his advantage of it, using the prop to produce a fun video via the official Clemson Football Twitter account.

Coming around the corner hot, Swinney threw himself down the slide. As he was falling down he screamed “let’s go” and perfectly stuck the landing while yelling “boom!” You can tell he is ready to get back into football, jogging straight into the weight room to get fall camp off to a positive start.

You can watch the full moment here.