South Carolina Football rival has second football alum arrested in a week

South Carolina football’s biggest rival is the Clemson Tigers. Neither team is as good as their fans had hoped coming into the 2023 season, and both team’s head coaches have put their feet in their mouths with comments to the media in recent weeks (Beamer criticized his team before accepting accountability after losing to Florida, and Swinney joked that the Clemson team psychiatrist would be on “suicide watch” after the team’s loss to Miami).

But a different problem has arisen for the Clemson Tigers over the last week.

Two former Tigers who are in the NFL, defensive back Derion Kendrick and wide receiver Justyn Ross, were both arrested within a week of each other.

Last Monday, Kendrick, who played for Clemson from 2018 to 2020 before transferring to Georgia, was arrested after a routine traffic stop. During the stop, it was discovered that Kendrick was charged with two misdemeanor gun charges. One count was for concealing a firearm, and the other count was for possessing a loaded firearm.

Kendrick remained in police custody for three days but was still allowed to play for the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He struggled in the Rams’ loss.

Kendrick was arrested back in 2021 on gun and drug charges when police found him asleep in his car.

This Monday, Kendrick’s Clemson teammate Justyn Ross was also arrested. Ross’ arrest stemmed from an incident just outside of Kansas City (where he plays for the Kansas City Chiefs), and details about the incident are scarce. What is known is that Ross is facing charges for criminal damage over $1000 but less than $25000.

Ross’ arrest report also included a note of “DV,” a shorthand often used to indicate domestic violence could be at play. Reports came out on Tuesday morning that Ross was, indeed, arrested on domestic violence charges, in addition to the criminal damage charges. Both charges are expected to be misdemeanors on Ross’ record.

South Carolina football and Clemson will meet for the annual rivalry game on November 25th at Williams-Brice Stadium.