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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Cybotnic-Rebooted on 2025-03-07 01:36:58+00:00.
The original thread over at r/cfb. While it is a common narrative nowadays that this hit catapulted Clowney into the #1 overall pick, that is not actually true, as he had hype even going back into high school, and the hit itself was only a capstone of a year where he was a unanimous all-american and won both the SEC Defensive Player of The Year award and the Ted Hendricks Award for the best Defensive End. Still, it was probably his best play of his college career and a surefire highlight to get general audiences hyped.
While Clowney has not worked out to be the multiple time DPOY that he was hyped pre draft to be, he ended up carving out a role as a good, sometimes even great, starter in the league who has played for 12 years, going into his 13th this year. A little disappointing for a 1st overall pick, but a result that would be easily acceptable in the Top 10 of almost any given draft.