South Carolina football legend Jadeveon Clowney takes shot at Clemson Tigers

South Carolina football alum Jadeveon Clowney is back in the Carolinas. The Gamecock legend signed a two-year contract with the Carolina Panthers this offseason, putting him with his hometown NFL franchise. The Rock Hill native is just a few miles north of where he played in high school as a member of the South Pointe Stallions.

Late this week, Clowney returned to another familiar location.

The Panthers spent part of Thursday in Clemson, South Carolina at a fan fest event in the Upstate. While there, Clowney cracked a joke at the expense of the local team.

When asked about coming back to a place he played in 2012 as a Gamecock, Clowney said he had "no problem with coming back" to Clemson because he remembers "what happened when I was here."

You can listen to his response below:

For those who might not remember (or just relish in the reminder), Jadeveon Clowney played in Memorial Stadium once during his time in garnet and black in 2012. Despite starting quarterback Connor Shaw missing the game due to injury, the Gamecocks emerged victorious in the top-12 matchup.

While Dylan Thompson was really good in relief of the injured Shaw, the player of the game was Mr. Clowney. The former top-ranked high school recruit in the nation had his best performance as a Gamecock. In as dominant a defensive performance as has ever been seen in major college football, the sophomore racked up 7 tackles, a pass knockdown, and 4.5 sacks. The sack number is an all-time South Carolina football record for a single game and were part of his single-season record of 13 quarterback takedowns and 23.5 tackles for loss.

Seemingly every time Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd dropped back to pass, Jadeveon Clowney was there. Any time Andre Ellington or the other Clemson running backs took a handoff, they had to avoid the intimidating presence of #7.

In the end, Clowney and the Gamecocks won the game 27-17 en route to their second of three-straight top-10 and 11-win seasons. During Clowney's time in Columbia, South Carolina never lost to their in-state rival, going 3-0 as part of their 5-game winning streak in the series.

Clowney and the Carolina Panthers will open up their season on September 8th against the New Orleans Saints and rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler.