Clemson assistant football coach Danny Pearman issued a statement on Tuesday after word spread on social media regarding Pearman’s use of a racial slur in 2017.
Former Clemson tight end D.J. Greenlee confirmed these discussions with The State newspaper. During a practice that year, Pearman used the n-word in speaking to Greenlee. Pearman, Clemson’s tight ends and special teams coach, apologized at the time.
“He wasn’t saying that I was a n-word,” Greenlee said.
Greenlee told The State that he was speaking with former teammate and fellow tight end Milan Richard during a 2017 practice following a play when the incident occurred. Pearman thought Greenlee had missed a block during a rep and “was being a coach at the time and he was just trying to figure out what was going on.”
After Pearman and Greenlee spoke about the play, Greenlee was asked by Richard about it, according to Greenlee.
“(Milan) was asking me what happened? ‘What’s coach getting on to you about?’” Greenlee recalled. “I was just like, ‘Man I got the (n-word) that came in my gap.’ I was talking to my teammate. That was all that was said. Then the next thing you know coach Pearman starts coming over there. He was repeating what I just said. He’s like, ‘(n-word) this, (n-word) that. The (n-word) wasn’t there.’
According to Greenlee the exchange happened in front of the entire team. Following the practice, Pearman apologized to Greenlee, who also met with head coach Dabo Swinney.
Statement from Clemson’s Danny Pearman: pic.twitter.com/uEwBcRZBmH
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) June 3, 2020