Tiger Fever

“We’re #1: The Story of 1981 Clemson Football” airs tonight at seven o’clock on ACCN

Frank Pearce / USA Today Network

CLEMSON, S.C. — I remember the 1981 football season like it was yesterday.

I was nine-years-old living in a two-story house in the Moonville Community in Piedmont, S.C. I just started to get a grasp of football.

I was introduced to the game at a very young age, and by the time the 1981 football season rolled around I was playing the game with neighborhood kids and watching it on television with every opportunity I got.

Little did I know how much of an impact this one year of football would have on the rest of my life.

I am often asked why I decided to become a sportswriter. Though I did not make the decision to concentrate fully as a writer until I was in college, I knew in 1981 I wanted to do something in the sports world, and I do not mean as an athlete.

The 1981 Clemson Tigers played a big role in my future. And after watching an advance press screening of tonight’s “We’re #1: The Story of 1981 Clemson Football” it brought back all of those memories.

For those of who can remember what it was like in the Upstate of South Carolina in 1981, you can appreciate what I am talking about. The hype surrounding that magical season was like no other in Clemson, the Upstate or in the state of South Carolina.

The Tigers were coming off a 6-5 campaign in 1980. No one, not even the Tigers themselves, thought by year’s end Clemson would be competing for its first national championship.

The 1981 season was a magical ride and Tiger Fever was everywhere. The color orange covered the Upstate of South Carolina. And my nine-year-old self could not get enough of it.

I can’t remember what my grades were like in the fall of 1981 at Woodmont Elementary, but I am pretty confident in saying I probably was not too productive in the classroom. My mind was on Clemson Football.

I read every sports story I could get my hands on. From Sports Illustrated to the Sporting News to the Greenville News to the State Newspaper, I soaked up as much information on the 1981 Clemson Tigers as I could.

It was a great year.

“We’re #1: The Story of 1981 Clemson Football” which was produced by Raycom Sports and ACC Network Productions, airs tonight at seven o’clock on ACCN. The one-hour special chronicles the 1981 season and how the small university rose to the top of the college football world in one of the craziest seasons in the history of college football.

Seven different teams—Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, Texas, Penn State, Pitt, and Clemson—owned the No. 1 spot during the course of the year, but only Little ole Clemson was left standing as the only undefeated and untied team when the season was complete.

The documentary begins with an old 12-inch LP record stamped with the Clemson Tiger Paw playing the song “Tiger Fever” as the great voice of NFL Films, John Facenda, who narrated “Clemson Football ‘Dream Season’ 81,” says, “The Tigers were blessed with an abundance of talented individuals. They had all the ingredients necessary for greatness. A season to remember as long as Clemson Football is played.”

The film then flashes to Danny Ford’s Farm in Central, S.C., where All-American linebacker Jeff Davis, quarterback Homer Jordan and All-American wide receiver Perry Tuttle come together with Coach Ford to share tales of the great season and more.

All-American safety Terry Kinard, running back Cliff Austin and defensive tackle Williams Devane also make appearances, along with longtime Clemson Sports Information Director Tim Bourret, author and former Greenville News writer Manie Robinson and former Penn State quarterback, now ESPN college football analyst, Todd Blackledge.

The documentary is a must-watch for all Clemson fans, as it tells the story of the Orange Pants and how it lifted the Tigers past No. 14 South Carolina to close out the 1980 season – a momentous win that carried into 1981 and led to wins over No. 4 Georgia, No. 8 North Carolina, and No. 4 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

If you lived in the Upstate of South Carolina in 1981, like I did, “We’re #1: The Story of 1981 Clemson Football” is going to bring back a lot of great memories. It’s going to make you relive what it was like to be a Clemson fan in a season when nobody saw the Tigers coming.

It is going to give you Tiger Fever.