[UPDATES ON SUNDAYS] [18+] When college football superstar Reid Donahue is ready for a comeback following a gruesome injury, the university tasks their head of sports media for a season-long piece on Reid's return to glory. Too bad being attached at...
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By Josephine Lawrence ESPN contributing writer
CLEMSON, SC — It's typically loud in Hedges, the upscale bar/restaurant in the lobby of The Abernathy - the only boutique hotel actually on Clemson's campus - but the raucous conversations stop suddenly, as if someone had pressed mute on the entire restaurant when Reid walked in. When we join his family at a table in the corner, the world around us is unmuted - there's a level of respect given for family time. But the moment isn't lost on Reid's parents, who liken their son to royalty on Clemson's campus. Even more so now, given the Clemson Tiger's four (soon to be five, as this article comes out) game winning streak behind Reid's impressive statline, worthy of his current +280 odds as this year's Heisman winner (only just behind defending Heisman winner Cade Martello at +220).
It's all still quite a bit for Reid's father Charlie, a mechanic, and mother Missy, an elementary school teacher, who are still in shock at the level of their son's superstardom - but not necessarily impressed by it. It's the day before Homecoming - where Clemson will take on conference rival NC State - and the Donahue's are staying the whole weekend, bringing a little bit of home to Reid.
Reid goes home when he needs to feel grounded, to the quaint little bubble of Wadmalaw Island - a small suburb of Charleston, 4 hours west of Clemson on the other side of the state - mostly because he's still picking up orders at the local butcher, washing his mother's car, and playing horses with his 10-year-old sister, Lily Lou. Decidedly not what you expect a Heisman favorite to be doing. But it all speaks to Reid's upbringing, and being home is what he's really attributed a large part of his comeback to. Home is where the heart is, but also a comfortable bed, a surplus of homemade food, and a place Reid could sit and nurse his injuries - both physical and mental - without being hyper analyzed or judged.
The Donahue family rarely left Wadmalaw until Reid went to Clemson, and Wadmalaw's high school was so small that Reid also served as the football team's kicker for field goals and extra points. There were barely enough kids to field one varsity team, and yet Reid's impact on the team could not be understated - they did, after all, win two South Carolina Group II state championships, and it's the first thing you're made aware of after entering the town. Right underneath the worn wooden sign that says WELCOME TO WADMALAW ISLAND reads GROUP II STATE CHAMPIONS, 2018, 2019.
"He thinks he's so cool, like it's his name on the sign," Lily Lou says, pushing up the purple heart-shaped sunglasses she wears (yes, even inside). It's a phase, apparently. She's biting and witty in a way I wish I was at that age.
"She keeps me humble," Reid jokes.
The jokes at each other's expense continue through dinner, and when they toe the line of being crude or inappropriate, Missy steps in and scolds them using their first and middle name (Reid Allen, in case you were wondering), in a way only a mother does.
When she's not keeping her kids in line, there's a lilting musicality to Missy Donahue's thick southern accent - the kind you almost want narrating your life in a way that most people want Morgan Freeman to. At the very least it's easy to see where Reid gets his manners from...even if they all are expelled from his body when he steps onto the field.
As we go to leave Hedges, we are subjected to well-meaning interruptions by no fewer than five more strangers, who were clearly waiting for an opportunity to shake Reid's hand and congratulate him on how well he's been playing. He slides me a coy smirk, clearly a little bit more comfortable with his level of stardom.
Reid's dominance cannot be understated at this point in the season, and social media lets him (and everyone else) know it. Reid's deep passes come as if they're shot out of a cannon, and it usually takes at least two defenders to bring him down when he decides to put his head down and run with the ball (he's even been bestowed the Angry Runs award by the Good Morning Football staff in consecutive weekends). Clemson's average margin of victory is almost 40 points, due in large part to Reid's dynamic ability to score both passing and rushing touchdowns in every game, and it's rocketed them back to #3 in the AP poll and ESPN rankings. If the season ended today, they'd be in the playoffs.
But the Donahue's keep him humble. For now.
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