Dabo Swinney Praises Louisiana Tech Team For Heartfelt Gesture Towards Grieving Clemson Player And His Family

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It's not every day that a losing football team writes heartfelt letters to the rivals that thumped them. Yet, after Clemson bested Louisiana Tech, 48-20 on September 17, the Tigers received a box of handwritten notes tucked into Louisiana Tech envelopes. The letters weren't thank you notes for their performance on the field, but instead were notes from the players on the Tech team intended for Clemson's Bryan Bresee and his family.

Bresee, the Clemson defensive tackle, missed the game after the death of his 15-year-old sister, Ella. The young girl's battle with medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer that impacts children, had "become an inspiration for the Tigers," per the Washington Post . The handwritten notes were from the Tech players to express their condolences to Bresee and his family. It was a touching gesture that led Tigers Coach Dabo Swinney to call the Tech players a "class group."

Swinney brought the box of the letters with him to the post-game press conference and thanked Tech and their coach for the "beautiful" gesture. "I didn't know Sonny Cumbie, but he's forever got a new fan in me," Swinney said after the game, which Clemson shared in a tweet. "Class guy. Class act. His whole football team. … It just makes my heart smile in this competitive world we're in that there's people out there like Sonny Cumbie and that LA Tech crowd. Class group."