Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

ESPN play-by-play analyst calls Kelly Bryant ‘selfish’ for transferring from Clemson

Tyler Waddell

By Tyler Waddell

Published:

ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge doesn’t think Kelly Bryant’s decision to transfer from Clemson after losing his starting job to true freshman Trevor Lawrence was a good look for the redshirt junior quarterback.

Blackledge, who is doing play-by-play commentary for the Clemson-Syracuse game this afternoon, did not hold back, going as far as using a particular “s-word” while on live air:

Lawrence, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2018 recruiting class, went down after a hard hit on a scramble in the second quarter of Clemson’s current matchup and will not return. With Bryant out of the picture, it’s up to reserve quarterback Chase Brice — who started the season as the No. 3 option on the depth chart — to rally the Tigers back from a 16-7 halftime deficit.

“They asked me how I felt about it,” Bryant said in reference to his meeting with coach Dabo Swinney, per ESPN. “I was like, ‘I’m not discrediting Trevor. He’s doing everything asked of him, but on my side of it, I feel like I haven’t done anything to not be the starter. I’ve been here. I’ve waited my turn. I’ve done everything y’all have asked me to do, plus more.’

“I’ve never been a distraction. I’ve never been in trouble with anything. To me, it was kind of a slap in the face.”

Obviously Clemson could benefit from having Bryant on the team in a situation like this, but hindsight is 20/20. Though there are some that don’t agree with Bryant’s decision (like Blackledge), he’s received national support for his choice, including the nod from former Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow, among many others:

No. 3 Clemson (4-0, 1-0) will need some major second-half help if it wants to avoid losing to Syracuse (4-0, 1-0) for the second consecutive season.

Tyler Waddell

Tyler has covered college football on a freelance basis since 2010. In addition to Saturday Football, his work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, Cox Media Group, Athlon Sports, and more.