Trevor Lawrence Careful About Giving 'Thumb Gangsters' Words to Use Against Him

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney praised quarterback Trevor Lawrence for his ability to handle criticism but still speak out with his platform.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spent a large portion of his Tuesday press conference leading up to this week's ACC Championship Game against Notre Dame lauding quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

Swinney pointed out many of the positive attributes the star of the No. 3 Tigers possesses, but one that especially stood out is Lawrence's ability to handle criticism while showcasing himself on a huge stage. 

"He's got thick skin," Swinney said. "If you're gonna be a quarterback at this level or in the NFL, you better have thick skin, especially in the world we live in, a world with a bunch of phone gangsters."

Swinney said Lawrence has to be ready for daily attacks and draw on his faith while being who he is when he takes stands like he did this offseason for social injustice and the movement to play football in 2020.  

"He's not trying to be right. He's not trying to make other people wrong," Swinney said. "He's just trying to be who he is. If you don't like that, that's your opinion. That doesn't make you bad. He's authentic, he's genuine, and no, he's not afraid to disagree, even though it might make the thumb gangsters mad at him. He doesn't care. He knows who he is, he's grounded in that."

That confidence and humility has served Lawrence well in college, but it'll come in handy even more at the next level. The widely-speculated first pick of the 2021 NFL Draft has used his head coach as a model of someone who deals with criticism on a daily basis. 

Lawrence said Swinney gets it way more than he does, so Lawrence has a good grasp of how to handle and use the spotlight. 

"I just really tried to ignore it," Lawrence said. "I've heard just about everything you can imagine, good and bad so both just as dangerous. Obviously, there's some stuff you see but the biggest thing is I know who I am, and just stick to who I am, regardless of what some random person online says that really doesn't really matter. So just keeping that perspective, it can be hard though for sure."

Lawrence, who will face Notre Dame for the first time this season Saturday at 4 p.m. in Charlotte, believes his approach to handling the media and fans is what's best for him. He wants to be thoughtful about questions he's asked and deal with issues in a mature manner, not just spout off with the first thing that pops into his head. 

He's shown he isn't afraid to tackle political issues, but he doesn't make them political. Lawrence said Tuesday he took some flack for taking a phone call from President Donald Trump, but he says he has too much respect for the position to turn down that opportunity. 

"At the end of the day, we're all people," Lawrence said. "Football is just a game. Obviously, for some people, it becomes a job. There's other things that are more important to me than football. Obviously, it's pretty high up there. "(He is) not just a robot that walks around and only thinks about football, so I think that's the biggest thing too is, trying to answer questions certain ways and show how you feel and what you believe, but also be careful because my name is on social media and in the headlines and articles enough. I don't want to give anyone more fuel to take things out of context so I'm, I'm really careful about that."