Clemson player defends groping an Ohio State player as ‘stuff just to have fun out there’

In the viral wake of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, where Clemson’s Christian Wilkins was caught on camera groping Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel, Clemson Tigers LB Ben Boulware made a statement in an attempt to defend his teammate’s actions. What he did, though, was spark more controversy.

Brian Hamilton, a writer for Sports Illustrated, published Boulware’s response on Twitter. Apparently, Boulware is annoyed that people are trying to label what Wilkins did as ‘sexual assault’ because this is normal behavior for football players who have “been in a locker room and seen the weird stuff.” The message Boulware is sending in his statement is that it’s okay to fondle another person on the field and in the locker room without consent. However, I bet if Boulware had a man who’s practically a stranger grab his penis in a public place, he might be inclined to change his attitude on the subject.

Boullware’s statement reads:

“That stuff kind of annoys me. The game is so serious and it’s so locked in out there, you try and do stuff just to have fun, to break up the seriousness of the game. People are trying to say ‘sexual assault’ — people that say that have either never played football, have never been in a locker room and seen the weird stuff. We’re together every day for years and years and years. You get very comfortable around each other. I know there’s going to be that one person: ‘Well, I played football and I never did that.’ You either sucked at football, or you had no friends in the locker room, or you were the person that went in the bathroom stall to change because you were scared to shower with the team. We do that stuff just to have fun out there, just to mess with the team. I know none of those players cares. I know Zach Bailey didn’t care about that at all. You saw on film where he didn’t freak out. ‘Do you all practice like this at Clemson?’ No, we practice beating ya’ll by 49 points. That’s something I did on the side. It’s annoying, because the players don’t care. Like, you saw [Curtis] Samuel didn’t do anything at all. That’s for the media to blow that up. Yes, Christian went — he went about four fingers deep. He went a little bit too far. But when I’m 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.”

This is not the first time that sexual assault has been boiled down to boys being boys, or explained away as locker room talk. The justification seems a little too reminiscent of the one made by President Elect Donald Trump in late 2016. A leaked tape from 2005 documented our soon-to-be-president saying that he frequently kissed women without their consent. They “just let you do anything,” he said, even “grab them by the pussy.” When met with backlash, Trump defended what he said as “locker room talk,” and we all laughed and agreed and voted him our president. Perhaps we’ll do the same for Wilkins.

Boulware goes on to say that the men who have defended Samuel by saying, “Well, I played football and I never did that,” were either one of two things: bad at football and had no friends in the locker room (presumably to do the “weird stuff” with), or you were kid that changed in the stall because you were afraid to shower with the team (or maybe more afraid of being groped, but who can say for sure).

In the NCAA you can get penalized for stepping on another player’s fingers, but apparently not for putting those fingers in between a player’s legs and grabbing his genitals without his consent. According to Boulware, they “do that stuff just to have fun out there, just to mess with the team.” But honestly, if you have to grab someone in a private place without their consent to help you gain an edge on the field you must not be very confident in your athletic ability to begin with.

“It’s annoying because the players don’t care,” Boulware said, “[Curtis] Samuel didn’t do anything at all.” But what could Samuel have done? He was pinned beneath two other players when Wilkins went in “about four fingers deep.” Even so, in the video documenting Wilkins attack, you can see Samuel recoil after the violation. Maybe he didn’t do anything, but his attempt to squirm away should make it clear that Samuel didn’t want, enjoy, or understand what was happening to him in the moment.

Boulware’s statement is a desperate attempt to normalize what happened on the field as something that should be blindly accepted and not questioned as inappropriate. “We’ve done it all year to mess with players,” he said before admitting that no one has done it as aggressively as Wilkins did during the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. Using his own example of “poking [other players] in the bellybutton or grabbing someone’s butt,” Boulware is defending Wilkins bad behavior by pointing to his own as an excuse.

It’s a misguided attempt to say that what Clemson players have done on the field all season is something that every football player does during the game. Unfortunately for Clemson, players from other teams have come out negating that idea. Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel, tweeted in response to Boulware’s statement, “We don’t rock like that this way.” In an earlier response to Christian Wilkins actions in the game on New Year’s Eve he stated, “If I would of felt that I would of got ejected.”

Additionally, Cam Robinson, Alabama’s left tackle, who is set to play against Clemson on January 8th warned that Clemson “better not try [him] like that.”

Boulware isn’t the only member of Clemson’s team to give a half-assed apology. Jay Guillermo, Clemson’s OL, argued that people shouldn’t be giving Wilkins a hard time because “he’s not the only one.” According to ESPN, Guillermo said, “People would be appalled, speechless if they knew” what happened during games. Wilkins made a statement as well, where he brushed off what he did as “just being silly,” and “stuff you do when you’re competing.”

Wilkins’ actions have sparked controversy among football fans. Some have argued that this behavior is part of the game and shouldn’t be questioned. Others are asking for suspension or even jail time for Wilkins.

It’s unlikely that Wilkins will face any sort of punishment or suspension for his unwanted groping because the NCAA has a tendency to treat athletes like gods, valuing their athletic ability over their moral conduct.

Look out ‘Bama — Clemson’s coming for you this Monday, presumably in more ways than one.