Grandmother's love propels CJ Spiller into Hall of Fame spot

Spiller is heading to the College Football Hall of Fame.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Thu Sep 09 12:32:03 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Because of his grandmother's love, passion, and well-timed advice, C.J. Spiller has it all – a degree from Clemson University and now a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Spiller – one of Clemson's greatest running backs and returners - will be honored for his College Football Hall of Fame selection in an in-stadium presentation at halftime of Clemson's home opener against South Carolina State on Saturday (5 p.m./ACCN). During the ceremony, the National Football Foundation will present Spiller with a plaque celebrating his selection in advance of his formal induction at the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas on December 7.

Spiller has his late grandmother to thank for many of the greatest moments in his life, and while she won't be here in person, he knows she'll be looking down and beaming with pride.

"She was my biggest fan. She was the one who got me started with football," Spiller told the media earlier this week. "My mom worked at a nursing home, so her hours were weird, and she wasn't able to make a lot of those eight o'clock games, so my grandmother took me. We'd meet up at Hardee's, and we had the carpool. She'd be there in her lawn chair or in the stands. She was my biggest fan and my biggest critic. She'd let me know right after the game what I did wrong from a body language standpoint, from a playing standpoint, the way I controlled my tongue. I'm not a huge talker, but on the football field, I'm probably the biggest trash talker. She always used to give me pointers of what I can and can't do. I wish she was here physically to share this moment with me, but I know she'll be smiling down happy and just proud."

Without his grandmother's advice constantly running through his head, Spiller may have never completed his career at Clemson as he contemplated transferring and moving on to the NFL after his junior year.

"I always tell people, those were emotional times for me," Spiller said. "A piece of advice that I always was given is you never want to make an emotional decision. Some of those times I was going through, I was about to make an emotional decision. After I had the opportunity to really sit down and come down off of that cloud nine and really focus on what I was getting ready to do, it made sense for me to stay at Clemson. On signing day of 2006, I made a commitment. I didn't put Clemson on a yearly type of deal; it was a lifetime commitment. When I sat down and really realized that, it made the decision a lot easier. When you're talking about having the opportunity to play in the NFL or play in school, you're talking about a dream, a life-changing event for yourself and your family.

"The biggest thing for me was having conversations with my grandmother when she was a custodian and going to help her in the high school. She always used to tell me that education was the most important thing I could have in my life. Once I had that six-hour ride with the radio off back up to Clemson, those conversations started creeping back up in my head. On the way back, I knew I was coming back to Clemson because of those conversations that I had. She always stressed the importance of education, and I was on the doorsteps of education. I had a younger sister that I wanted to be an example for. It doesn't matter how great of an athlete you are; if you don't have your education, it means nothing."

Now, there's no place he'd rather be and no institution he would rather be representing.

"Once I finished my career in the NFL, I knew I wanted to do something with Clemson," he said. "This place is special. I know it's the people that drew me back. When I was deciding if I was going to live here or in Tampa, Florida, the people always came back to my mind, how special they were during my time playing and every time I came back. There was always a warm reception, and that meant more to me than anything else. I just wanted to pay it back and have some kind of connection back with this university. I knew this place was special. Not only athletes, but if kids, in general, come to visit our university, they will see how special it is. I want to be an advocate for that."

As the celebration draws closer, Spiller still cannot process the magnitude of such an honor.

"To be honest, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," he said. "I don't think it's going to hit me until December 7. It's an honor to be inducted with so many great players and coaches, but I really haven't had too much downtime to really think about the whole magnitude of going into the College Football Hall of Fame. You think about that so many guys have played this sport, and so many guys have coached, there are still great players that deserve to be in, so to be going in truly is an honor for me. It's not only an honor for me, but for this university, for our fans, my family, my supporters who have been with me since day one. It's going to be a remarkable night. I'm looking forward to spending that night amongst family and friends."

He is sure of one thing, though. He's looking forward to celebrating with his daughter, whom he spent lots of time away from during his four years at Clemson.

"I'm not a big emotional person," he said. "I'm going to have my daughter there, so that will be an emotional moment that I'll get to share with her because she was young when I was playing. She was four years old when I left Clemson, so she didn't really get an opportunity to grasp that I played here. She'll sit in the stands, and they'll probably have some type of video, so for her to be able to see that and witness that and be there on that day, that's what I'm looking forward to the most - sharing that moment with her."