Inside look at Clemson's visit to The White House

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NOTE: Today, Clemson’s football team visited the White House and the Capitol in recognition of the Tigers’ 2016 national title. Billy Davis, a member of the 1981 national title championship team and a longtime member of the Secret Service, shares his reflections on the occasion in the following column he penned for Tigerillustrated.com.

Davis played football (1980-83) and baseball (1983) for Clemson and was a member of two ACC title football teams. He is ranked second all-time in punt returns (87) and finished with seven career interceptions for the Tigers. He played for the 1984 St. Louis Cardinals as a linebacker and special-teamer. He began his career in the U.S. Secret Service in 1989. He retired from the USSS in October 2015 and now works as an international security and training consultant. He is president and CEO of Tigers Eye Global Security, LLC. TI thanks Davis for sharing his time and insight.

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When Cris Ard and my friend Larry Williams reached out and asked if I would be interested in giving my take on the 2016 national champion Clemson Tigers’ visit to The White House, I immediately signed up. Because like most of you TI subscribers, I’m a Clemson fan -- albeit with just a slightly different perspective when it comes to Clemson football and The White House.

Backtracking to the announcement of this visit to “the 18 acres,” as we would say in the U.S. Secret Service, I immediately made contact with my former colleagues to ensure seats for family and friends on the South Grounds for the celebration. On Jan. 10 I texted coaches Swinney, Pearman and Streeter and, after offering hearty congratulations, I noted: “one more thing men… I’m very much looking forward to seeing you up here at The White House."

Longtime Clemson football administrative assistant (and big sister to hundreds of Clemson football alumni) Ren Windham asked me if I was going to be there. I said “are you kidding? I played for the first one … and PRAYED for the second. You’re dang right I’ll be there.” Dang right. I only wish that about 83,000-plus would have a seat on the South Grounds as well.

On Jan. 1, 1982, I was on the field for the final play of the Orange Bowl. There were six seconds left when Nebraska had one last shot. I was inserted in as a fifth defensive back in our “victory defense.” I was lined up on about the 20-yard line as the deep safety and Terry Kinard (deepest safety) was lined up 10 yards behind me. Husker QB Mark Mauer launched his desperation heave which was heading directly to me (like a punt thankfully) when Andy Headen swooped in and knocked the ball to the ground. To this day, I vividly remember running off the field yelling “we did it, we did it, we did it! We’re national champs!” Yes, we were.

Jan. 9-10, 2017, was a little different. Unfortunately for my family, I’m pretty much unbearable when it comes to watching Clemson football games. So unless the game has become safely out of reach (See 56-7 or 63-17) I usually find myself watching solo (even the dogs find safe haven in another part of the house). It’s not that I yell or scream, but my intensity and anxiety levels rise to a point that it makes others a little uncomfortable. Maybe they think I’m going to run through the wall or something. I’m sure some of you out there can relate. Clemson, and Clemson football in particular, are very personal for me.

As Greg Huegel’s onside kick was recovered and the referee confirmed what we all knew to be true, and as No. 4 and that magnificent offense went to their victory formation for the final snap, I went racing up the stairs to wake my wife and youngest daughter (who had sought refuge in the master bedroom). “They did it, they did it, they did it! NATIONAL Champions! Can you BELIEVE it?!” I turned on the TV to watch orange and purple confetti flow across the screen. All my wife and daughter could come up with was “Wow.” Wow indeed.

The difference between Jan. 1, 1982 and Jan. 9, 2017 for me, was that as a young 20-year-old sophomore, I was as happy as any college football player could be in victory, celebrating with my teammates and coaches. It all seemed so easy, almost like it was meant to happen.

In the early morning hours of January 10, as a 55-year-old man, I cried like a baby. Because now I know it’s not easy, not easy at all. The Clemson Tigers were again the Kings of College Football.

I was on the sidelines in Charlottesville, Va., in 2008: Tigers 13, UVA 9. Not a whole lot of believers to be found, but I believed in Coach Swinney. Sidelines again in Charlotte in 2010. The Meineke Car Care Bowl: South Florida 31, Tigers 26. I still believed in Coach Swinney.

The next season, the Tigers were 2011 ACC Champions and the rest of the ride we know all about, culminating in the 2016 National Championship. ALL IN and WHAT THEY SAY NOW? What a great time to be a Clemson Tiger.

Welcome to the South Grounds of The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

I grew up in Mt. Vernon, Virginia, about 14 miles down the Potomac River from D.C. My journey to Clemson and the U.S. Secret Service started there. I played four years of football and one year of baseball for the Tigers, and am very lucky to have been coached by both Danny Ford and Bill Wilhelm. In 1984 I was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent. Released in training camp, I was subsequently signed by the St. Louis Cardinals, spending 1984 (playing against the Redskins in legendary RFK Stadium) and 1985 with the “Big Red.” After a couple of years of high school coaching, I returned to Clemson (thanks to then AD Bobby Robinson) to finish my degree and served as student assistant coach for the 1987 ACC Champions. Hired by Senator Strom Thurmond to work on his staff in 1988, I was soon appointed as a Special Agent in the USSS in 1989, where I started work in the Jacksonville, Fla., field office.

I served as a Special Agent in the USSS for over 26 years, retiring in October 2015. Many of those years I spent working at The White House in a variety of roles. As a member of the Presidential Protective Division, a Counter Assault Team Leader, Capitol Hill Liaison, program manager for the USSS counterterrorism teams, and most recently as Special Agent in Charge of the Vice Presidential Protective Division. My office was located in Room 12 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building or the “EEOB”. A short walk across West Executive Avenue and you are in the West Wing, with the Vice President’s Office and the Oval Office directly upstairs.

Consequently, I know just about every piece of the complex, from the East Wing to the State Floor, from the North Portico to the Situation room and points in between.

You see it all at “The House.” State arrivals and dinners, loaded with pomp and circumstance. Fourth of July fireworks watched from the South Grounds are truly awesome. Sitting on the roof of the White House on a midnight shift, staring at the brilliantly lit Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, and contemplating how lucky you are to be an American – it is sometimes surreal.

But I was always missing one piece of the puzzle. Yep, they’ve all been there. Super Bowl Champions, World Series Champions, Stanley Cup Champions, Olympians and of course, all types of NCAA Champions. This includes Clemson’s 2003 golf team. It was a lot of fun to be on the State Floor and watch President Bush honor the Tigers and Coach Larry Penley. They had all of the spring sports there. Other than Clemson, I only remember Rice’s baseball team (the old baseball player in me, evidently).

Our ’81 team did not visit the White House. Clemson President Atchley, AD Bill McClellan, Coach Ford, Homer Jordan and Jerry Gaillard represented our team in D.C. Senator Thurmond (Clemson grad) had arranged for the Tigers to meet with President Reagan. As previously mentioned, I would later go on to work for Senator Thurmond, who was very instrumental in me being hired by the Secret Service. Again, I owe so much to Clemson University and my Clemson family.

Ironically enough, the only team that I personally greeted, other than our golf team, was the 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide National Champions. I went to see former Clemson coaches Burton Burns, Billy Napier and Chris Rumph and it was great to meet up with them. I also was able to meet and speak with Coach Saban and his wife. Good folks, very gracious. Yet the feeling of the missing puzzle piece still persisted, more than ever.

So now, 35 long years later, our Clemson Tigers have slain the behemoth Red Elephants and earned that ticket, that missing piece of our puzzle, and have now visited the White House. I told Danny Pearman that I would have retired years ago if I knew that the Tigers would win the whole thing the next year!

Wow, indeed.

I’ve made the trip from Virginia across the Roosevelt bridge on I-66 and in to D.C. literally thousands of times. But I can say that I’ve never been quite this excited to make the trek to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

It seems that our country is very polarized politically these days. I hope that everyone realizes that this ceremony and recognition of the Tigers’ national championship is in no way political, and that it is a purely traditional way for the current President of the United States to acknowledge athletic excellence. Or as Coach Swinney would say “Best is the Standard”.

Records show that the Brooklyn Athletics and Washington Nationals amateur baseball clubs visited President Andrew Johnson at The White House on Aug. 30, 1865. The tradition has grown to include professional and amateur champions from many different sports.

My wife, youngest daughter, her high school buddy and my dear friend Auggie Tantillo attended the ceremony with me. Auggie was Senator Thurmond’s Chief of Staff when Coach Ford and the other Clemson representatives visited the White House in 1982. Auggie is also a TI subscriber and frequents The West Zone Message Board, so we are both big fans.

I must mention one person who was absent from this celebration, and he will be greatly missed. Due to an unbelievably tragic set of occurrences and circumstances, Bert Henderson passed away on Feb. 20, 2017.

Bert was the consummate Clemson Tiger, a gentleman … and one of my best friends. He played a huge behind-the-scenes role in so many aspects of Clemson athletics from raising funds for the fantastic new football facility, to IPTAY parking issues and seat selections, to most importantly befriending and mentoring many student athletes. His absence was felt on the South Grounds. I miss my friend a lot.

To close, I’m so proud to be associated with, and have been a part of both the United States Secret Service and Clemson Tiger football. I have a lot of friends and blood brothers in both. The ceremony was one of the those fleeting moments in life that I wish we could enjoy for days and not just hours.

Thanks again to Coach Swinney, his staff and the Clemson Tiger football players for bringing so much happiness and pride to Clemson Tigers all over the world.

God Bless and Go Tigers. Billy D. #24

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