Williamson got parental lecture for role in Clemson-South Carolina brawl

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) Clemson tight end Bobby Williamson was at the epicenter of the state&#39;s ugliest football fight, endured an offseason of critics and got an official letter of reprimand for his actions. The worst part? The talking-to that came from his parents.<br> <br> ``My dad gave me the lecture, &#39;Well, it finally happened to you,&#39; `` Williamson remembered. ``They were upset with me.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> It was Williamson&#39;s hard tackle of South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton after a fourth-down throw that touched off a sidelines-clearing brawl that eventually stretched 60 yards across the field. Tapes of the incident showed Williamson near the bottom of the scrum with his helmet off and players from both sides rushing in.<br> <br> The incident, coming a day after an NBA brawl between Indiana and Detroit, made headlines across the nation.<br> <br> Both teams lost bowl bids, six players from each school were hit with one-game suspensions by their respective conferences and anyone connected to the Tigers or Gamecocks dealt, at times, with looks of scorn and derision.<br> <br> ``I lost my cool,&#39;&#39; Williamson said. ``It&#39;s last year and it&#39;s last year&#39;s problems. It was a mistake. I&#39;m sorry for it. Everybody on this team is sorry for it. It was an embarrassing situation for both schools. ... Emotions got high. That&#39;s no excuse, but we&#39;re just trying to forget that.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> For all the fight fallout, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden rarely got questioned about it during his spring IPTAY club meetings. He said his teams haven&#39;t had sportsmanship problems and he doesn&#39;t anticipate any in the future. ``It&#39;s really been a nonfactor and probably will be until I announce the suspensions,&#39;&#39; Bowden said. ``It really hasn&#39;t been a huge topic of conversation.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The six Clemson players who&#39;ll miss a game this season are running back Duane Coleman, offensive linemen Nathan Bennett and Roman Fry, defensive end Brandon Cannon and linebackers Maurice Nelson and Anthony Waters.<br> <br> Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips said he&#39;s proud of how players handled themselves in the fight&#39;s aftermath. He will mostly leave it to his department&#39;s coaching staff to reinforce the message that future brawls are unacceptable behavior. If there&#39;s a chance to bring in experts on ethics and sportsmanship to meet with teams, ``I think it&#39;s always good to have that in front of&#39;&#39; athletes, he said.<br> <br> Williamson was among four Clemson players who got a letter of reprimand, along with defensive lineman Cory Groover, linebacker Nick Watkins and former center Tommy Sharpe. ``It just said they were disappointed in your actions,&#39;&#39; Williamson said. ``Don&#39;t let it happen again, or else.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Williamson can&#39;t imagine things blowing up like that ever again. ``You&#39;re fighting for your team and you&#39;re fighting for what you think is right,&#39;&#39; he said. ``But if it happened again, you&#39;d have to walk away and go get &#39;em the next play. Get them between the lines.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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