On Twitter Tuesday, former Clemson walk-on wide receiver Kanyton Tuttle revealed a Tigers coach using the N-word during practice while responding to head coach Dabo Swinney.
Clemson assistant football coach Danny Pearman issued a statement on Tuesday about a 2017 incident where he revealed he was the one that used the racial slur.
The State’s Matt Connolly tracked down D.J. Greenlee, who was the other player involved in the incident with Tuttle, to get more details on what happened on that fateful day.
“It was just a heated argument during practice, basically. Me and the coach got into it and I was speaking with one of my teammates. He heard me use the n-word basically, and basically tried to correct me by saying the n-word back,” Greenlee told The State. “He wasn’t saying that I was a n-word. It was, using the tone, in a word like, ‘OK … I was talking to my teammate and you came over here.’”
Greenlee says Pearman spent the rest of the season apologizing and that he eventually forgave him for it.
“Three years ago on the practice field, I made a grave mistake involving D.J. Greenlee. I repeated a racial slur I overheard when trying to stop the word from being used on the practice field. What I overheard, I had no right to repeat,” Pearman said in his statement.
“While I did not direct the term at any player, I know there is no excuse for me using the language in any circumstance. I never should have repeated the phrase. It was wrong when I said it, and it is wrong today.
“I apologized to D.J. at the conclusion of practice, who then appropriately raised his concern to Coach Swinney. Coach and I met to discuss the incident, and he reiterated that my language was unacceptable. I later apologized again as well as expressed my sincere regret to our position group the following day.
“I love the young men who choose to come to our university, and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt them. I sincerely apologize to D.J., his family, our team and our staff.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
