By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher

rnimmons@thepccourier.com

CLEMSON — With the team currently in South Florida preparing for the Orange Bowl and its first College Football Playoff appearance, the Clemson Tigers are in position to cap the greatest season in program history.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney invited Kathryn Hicks and her family to the Tigers’ practice on Dec. 15 in Clemson. Swinney and the Tigers will play Oklahoma on Thursday in the Orange Bowl with a trip to the National Championship game on the line.

Led by Dabo Swinney, named national coach of the year by several different services, the Tigers have already gone 13-0 and won an Atlantic Coast Conference championship to earn a trip to their CFP semifinal matchup with Oklahoma in Miami on Thursday, but all these accomplishments pale in comparison to what really makes Clemson great.

Greatness does not always come on the football field. More times than not, it comes from the heart, and this group of Tigers have more heart than many can imagine. Six Mile resident Kathryn Hicks and her family can vouch for that.

Hicks, 23, is a Tiger. Her blood runneth orange, like so many other fans that love Clemson.

Kathryn has been wheelchair-bound since birth, so for her and her family, going to see the Tigers in person at Death Valley on a Football Saturday is a tough ordeal.

Courtesy Photo
Six Mile resident Kathryn Hicks has her picture taken with Clemson star quarterback Deshaun Watson, left, and wide receiver Trevion Thompson following practice on Dec. 15.

“Kathryn is such a dedicated fan, and I hope to get her to some games this next season, but we do watch on TV or listen on the radio,” her mother, Karen, said. “Her late papa Carlos Holliday was a huge Clemson fan.”

When Kathryn heard that Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was going to be on the cover of an upcoming Sports Illustrated magazine, she immediately wanted a copy for her collection. She asked her mother if she could get a copy; but demand was so high that she just couldn’t find one locally before all the books were sold out in the area.

“I put on Facebook that if anyone found one to please let me know, and a family member found Kathryn two copies while on a trip to Myrtle Beach,” her mother said.

The books came to Kathryn in the mail, putting her on a mission. She thought it would be impossible to get them signed by Watson.

Courtesy Photo
Daniel High School football coach Randy Robinson helped Kathryn Hicks get a chance to meet coach Dabo Swinney and Tiger players at Clemson football practice earlier this month.

That is where Daniel High School football coach Randy Robinson stepped in. The Hicks family, who are also faithful Daniel fans, knew that Swinney’s sons play football at Daniel and enlisted Robinson’s help to see if Kathryn’s mission could be fulfilled.

“I called Randy Robinson, because I knew that if anyone could get her magazines signed for her, it would be him,” Karen said.

Robinson immediately went to work mentioning Kathryn to Swinney and asking if he could somehow get her magazines signed.

Not only was Swinney happy to get the signature Kathryn wanted, he asked to meet her as well.

“Dabo said he was busy but that he would get back with Randy on what day would be good for him,” Karen said. “When we got the news and told Kathryn about it, she was so excited but didn’t want to get her hopes up too much because we do realize that he was really, really busy right now.”

That is when the heart of the Tigers showed.

“When later talking to Randy, he was telling me that he received a call from Dabo right before the Wake Forest game,” Karen said. “Randy said that he looked down and saw (Swinney’s) name come up and thought he may have called him by mistake, because it was around 1:30 and the game was supposed to start at 3:30.

“Dabo just wanted Randy to let Kathryn know that he hadn’t forgotten about her.”

That spoke volumes to the Hicks family.

“He was fixing to start a huge game, but being so thoughtful and thinking about Kathryn and just letting her know that he had not forgotten about her — how many would do something like that? That was amazing to me,” Karen said.

After Clemson took care of Wake Forest to complete an undefeated regular-season conference slate, then traveled to rival South Carolina and won to finish a perfect 12-0 through the regular season and followed it up with an ACC Championship game win over North Carolina, Kathryn finally got her chance to meet with Swinney and the undefeated Tigers as they went through an early bowl practice on Dec. 15.

The family was blessed with an unusually warm December day.

“I was afraid that the weather would not be good for Kathryn to get out, but it was perfect,” Karen said. “Dabo even said that God had a hand in this visit, because He gave us such a beautiful day.”

The Hicks family got to watch the team go through practice, and that was amazing for Kathryn, her mother said.

“They ran by us, and we thought, ‘My goodness, these guys are way bigger in person than they are on TV,’” she said with a laugh.

The icing on the cake was when Swinney himself came by to have a touching conversation with Kathryn.

Courtesy Photo
Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney signs an autograph for Kathryn Hicks, left, and her mother, Karen, at the Tigers’ practice in Clemson on Dec. 15.

“Dabo came over and talked to Kathryn and was so nice to her,” Karen said. “He bent down in front of her at her level, just talking in general and was talking about how God made her for a purpose and that he was letting her know what a special person she is.”

After talking to Kathryn, Swinney then went over to the team and gave them their pep talk and said a prayer. Afterward, the players came over and talked with Kathryn, signed a poster she designed and took pictures.

“These group of guys were gentlemen and so respectful — even after they had just practiced and were all hot and tired, they still took time to come over and talk to Kathryn,” Karen said. “I have always been a Tiger fan, but now I’m an even a bigger fan. This day that they provided for Kathryn meant so much and touched her heart in a way that they will never know.”

The Hicks family would like to say a huge thank you to Swinney and all the players for the kindness that they’ve shown Kathryn and her sisters, Felicia and Kaylin.

“That was a day that we will all remember for the rest of our lives,” Karen said. “Dabo and these guys are Kathryn’s forever friends. We won’t get to go to the Orange Bowl, but you can bet we will be right by the TV cheering on our Tigers.”