Tigers defense enjoys putting paws in some sensitive places

Apparently, playing football isn’t fun enough. In Clemson’s Fiesta Bowl win over Ohio State, defensive lineman Christian Wilkins drew unwanted attention after blatantly grabbing the crotch of Buckeyes running back Curtis Samuels, but Tigers linebacker Ben Boulware defended the action as a common — and usually more subtle — practice that lightens the mood of the team.

“That’s something we’ve done all year to mess with a player,” Boulware told reporters on campus Wednesday. “No one’s probably done it as aggressive as Christian did. … I did it against USC. The dude tweeted it. I just poked him in the butt. Like, it’s just something we do to mess with players, break up the seriousness of the game.

“It’s really not that big of a deal. … I know this is probably going to blow up, and everyone’s going to think I’m a sexual predator because I poke guys in the butt now. … Our defense, we’re good, we also like to have fun out there.”

If that doesn’t make sense to you, then apparently you never played high-level football.

“I know there’s going to be one person: ‘Well, I played football and I never did that,’ [but] you either sucked at football, you had no friends in the locker room or you were that person that went into the bathroom stall to change because you were scared to shower with the team,” Boulware said. “Yes, Christian went about four fingers deep. He went a little too far, but when I’m just messing with somebody, poking them in the belly button or grabbing someone’s butt, it’s just to break up the seriousness of the game. The people who are freaking out about that have never played the game, or were just losers who didn’t have any friends when they played the game. It’s annoying.”

Wilkins will not receive any discipline from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who described Wilkins as “goofy.”

“He’s a guy that can be a little silly at times,” Swinney said. “We don’t have a better young man on the team than Christian Wilkins. [He] apologized for it, apologized to the kid. That’s really it.”