TAMPA, Fla. — It goes against everything they believe and preach and fight for, day after day.
At Clemson, football is all about the team, not the individual. It's all about earning it, not deserving it.
Yet there's room for one sweet exception of selfishness and entitlement to those rules when it comes to Deshaun Watson.
"If anyone deserves anything," offensive coordinator Tony Elliott says, "I think Deshaun deserves to win it all."
The irony of that feel-good sentiment is that if Clemson is to win it all, Watson will have to earn it.
The most dynamic and dangerous player on the field for Monday night's national championship game has to play better than anyone else.