Reggie Merriweather: The Epitome Of A Team Player

When Reggie Merriweather arrived in Clemson in the summer of 2003, it was already a crowded backfield.

Running backs Chad Jasmin, Duane Coleman, Yusef Kelly and Kyle Browning were there to battle the three-star recruit Merriweather for carries.

With so much depth at the position, it came as little surprise that Merriweather only mustered 16 rushes for 56 yards in his debut season.

His sophomore season would be an entirely different story. With Jasmin having moved on, Merriweather and Coleman took over most of the rushing duties, with Merriweather leading the team in carries (136) and yards (670) on the season.

Merriweather also produced 125 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries in a 29-7 win over rival South Carolina.

Prior to the 2005 season, the Tigers welcomed a new addition to the running back room in the highly touted four-star prospect James Davis. However, Merriweather not only welcomed the competition, he actually embraced it.

"For me, adding another guy was nothing new," Merriweather told AllClemson.com. "A breath of fresh air, and every time you come to meetings or games, you have to just prove yourself."

"When he came in and made some noise it was kind of a shell-shock a little bit. But iron sharpens iron. The better the competition, the better it makes you."

Despite the presence of the Davis, Merriweather would go onto have 149 carries for 715 yards as a junior, both career highs.

The next offseason saw the arrival of the fleet-footed speedster C.J. Spiller, a five-star freshman who was a top-20 player overall in the 247 Composite Rankings. Spiller would go on to be one of the best playmakers in Clemson history.

"That following year, with C.J. coming in, it was just extraordinary," Merriweather said. "Man, we had a really good backfield there. Just the talent that Dabo Swinney (WR coach) was able to bring in. And Coach Bowden, it just speaks volumes about the character program they were trying to build."

Unfortunately, Merriweather's senior year was not as memorable as it could have been. The Thunder and Lightning combination, along with injuries, kept him from going out the way he would have liked, as he carried the ball just 30 times for 171 yards.

As he looks back on his career though, going on two decades later, Merriweather isn't bitter in any way. In fact, he is still what he's always been, the consummate teammate.

"You know, splitting carries was never a bad thing," Merriweather said. "It just made the best out of every carry that you got, and you know, it raised everybody's game."