College Football

Clowney doesn’t owe it to Spurrier to play hurt

South Carolina standout defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is questionable for Saturday’s game against Arkansas due to a strained muscle near his ribs, but if the All-American is forced to sit out this weekend, at least Steve Spurrier will have advance notice this time.

The Ol’ Ball Coach, surprised and frustrated by the junior’s last-second decision not to suit up against Kentucky last Saturday, let slip a string of subtle digs at his star player following the 35-28 win.

Clowney had missed the team’s Thursday practice, but Spurrier was under the impression Clowney would be playing — until just before kickoff.

“It was just we didn’t know he wasn’t playing until right before the game,” Spurrier said afterwards. “That is always a little frustrating. Usually the trainer or doctor comes and tells you this guy is out, and that did not happen last night. But on the other side if a player is in pain and can’t play, I don’t want him to play. None of us do.

“I will just say he told me he couldn’t play.”

Hmmm.

Spurrier later said it’s “not a big story,” but he made it a big story by opening his post-game press conference with an unnecessarily vague “I don’t want to get into all of that” in reply to a question about Clowney, creating legitimate skepticism surrounding his absence.

If Spurrier had just said Clowney was hurt, the follow-up questions would have revolved around the severity of the injury, rather than the existence of the injury.

Spurrier would not even vouch for Clowney’s commitment to the team.

“You’ll have to ask him about that,” said Spurrier, who is allowing Clowney to speak to the media this week, on a non-game day, for the first time this season.

“If he wants to play, we’ll welcome him to come play for the team if he wants to. If he doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t have to.”

Clowney doesn’t have to. And maybe it isn’t worth it.

Clowney entered the season with expectations higher than Everest, considered a Heisman candidate after setting the school’s single-season sack-record with 13 last season, but through four games he has 12 tackles and three sacks. He’s been slowed by constant double teams and has watched plays run away from him so frequently it’s as if he’s carrying a chainsaw.

He already has played through a stomach virus and bone spurs in his feet, which he plans to have surgery on after the season, but his decision to sit out against Kentucky looked worse when combined with the return of his quarterback, Connor Shaw, from a sprained shoulder. Shaw, projected to be sidelined for up to three weeks, was back after one.

Whether Clowney is suffering a minor injury ultimately doesn’t matter. It cannot harm his future. It can actually only help it.

If Clowney avoids a serious injury, he is the unquestioned top defensive pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, possibly the No. 1 overall.

Following his breakout, helmet-popping sophomore season, speculation surrounded the 20-year-old and whether he should sit out the year to avoid the risk of injury, though Clowney said he never considered it.

He alleviated some concerns by taking out a $5 million insurance policy with the NCAA to protect against any future earnings lost to injury, just a fraction of what he will likely accumulate in the NFL — a league he must wait three years after high school to join despite the fact that all 32 NFL teams would sign him at this second if they could.

So, what is Clowney’s motivation at the moment?

Well, he could just want to play for the love of the game. Seriously.

He could have an insatiable desire to win.

He could want to do it for the South Carolina community that’s embraced him, for the fans who would commit crimes to switch bodies with him.

He could want to play for his teammates who will never play a down of football beyond this season, for the friends he’s spent three years with who can think of nothing more fulfilling than an SEC championship.

Playing in college is as good as it gets for some, better than it is for most, but no one dreams about waiting to get to the NFL. No one dreams about waiting for your dream.

It’d be nice if all, or any, of that were true. Maybe it is. Maybe it can be. We wish because we believe we would appreciate every second of opportunity, given the chance.

But what’s nice isn’t always what’s smart. This isn’t Siberia, but Clowney is clearly somewhere he doesn’t want to be. It’s unfair and un-American, but such is life in America’s favorite sport.

Even if Clowney’s injury is slight, what reason is there to risk it becoming something more serious or to play at less than 100 percent? What if by compensating for the injury, he ends up doing more damage?

Why should Clowney play through an injury because of some antiquated, misguided notion about a player’s toughness, glorified by stories from when college players wore leather helmets?

South Carolina already has made millions of dollars off of Clowney. Spurrier’s contract is guaranteed through 2017. Clowney’s deal is hypothetical.

Just last year, Clowney saw teammate Marcus Lattimore, once thought to be the best running back in the 2013 draft class, suffer a career-threatening injury and fall to the fourth round.

Lattimore signed a contract worth more than $2.4 million with the 49ers. No. 1 overall pick Eric Fisher’s deal was worth more than $22 million — guaranteed.

Without further incident, a meaningless regular-season game against Kentucky will be forgotten as quickly as Eli Manning demanding out of San Diego or John Elway refusing to go to Baltimore.

“Nah, no one will care,” a personnel executive for an NFL team told USA Today Sports. “If he’s healthy, works out well and most importantly interviews well, it won’t hurt him.”

As long as he can avoid getting seriously hurt.