Y U DOING DUMB THINGS, SAMMY WATKINS?

I would've covered this in yesterday's assortment of legal shenanigans if it had already happened. It had not. From USA Today via a bunch of local people via the Clemson University Police:

Clemson All-American receiver Sammy Watkins was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and a controlled substance on Friday.

Watkins and soccer player Amadou-Tidiane Daniel Dia were stopped by university police after an officer saw the car scrape a curb and the temporary license tag was not lit. The police report said an officer smelled marijuana in the car and a subsequent search found two pills for which Watkins did not have a prescription.

According to the Clemson University Police, Watkins was charged with possession of a controlled substance and simple possession of marijuana, which are both misdemeanors.

Please note that this took place at some point early Friday, as in very late Thursday. Appropriate reaction to a guy smoking pot while driving while carrying non-prescription painkillers in a car with a temporary tag at some point between midnight and 3 a.m.:


BRILLIANT!!! He's like Tommy Rees in receiver form!

Dabo Swinney ANGRY:

“I am aware of the arrest last night. I am mad and hurt by the poor decision that Sammy Watkins made. He is a good young man who has been a model student, citizen, player and teammate. This is a reminder that good people make poor decisions. But, there are consequences for your actions ... and there will be in this case.

“I am in the process of gathering the facts and discipline will be determined when I have completed that process.”

The two big differences (between Watkins and Rees, I mean) are (a) Watkins obviously isn't going anywhere other than probably the bench for a couple games -- a misdemeanor pot charge is slightly less severe than four misdemeanor charges based on evading and then kneeing a police officer -- and (b) Watkins is really freakin' good.

The list of best receivers in the country goes something like this: Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins, gap, a bunch of other guys. The guy had 82 catches for 1,219 yards and 12 touchdowns last year as a freshman (!!!) despite not having a single game with more than 155 yards or two TDs. He's kinda/sorta important to that offense.

I will now save you the trouble of looking up Clemson's schedule for the first few weeks: Auburn (possibly difficult), Ball State (lol), Furman (wwwhheeeee) and at Florida State (eek). Translation: An any-game suspension is meaninful since the Auburn game is sitting there as a potential loss; anything beyond that but short of four games is essentially meaningless since the rest of the September schedule is cupcake-tastic.

I also won't be surprised at all if some tsk-tsking and stadium steps are deemed sufficient and Watkins torches Auburn for 140 yards and two touchdowns, in which case all will be forgotten/forgiven. Regardless, my outrage over a generally behaved college kid smoking pot will be relatively low. Just stop doing stupid things, plz.