South Carolina State’s game at Clemson last fall was a “money game” – in more ways than one.
The ACC squad paid South Carolina State a six-figure sum to participate in what ended up being a 49-3 win over the state’s lone public historically black college. It was also a game where cornerback Decobie Durant caught the eye of many NFL scouts as he picked off two passes – including the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams ultimately chose Durant in the NFL Draft, and Rams general manager Les Snead says that’s when he really got on the franchise’s radar.
“Boy did he touch the football,” Snead said. “He touched the football at a really high rate. It’s interesting, I remember sitting and watching him play against Clemson and you just felt the competitive football player. He’s blowing up bubble screens and he’s playing the ball down the field, so that was just one of those games where you go ‘okay he stepped it up.’”
Durant wasn’t the first SC State product to parlay a big day against Clemson into a higher draft spot. SCSU’s Darius Leonard was all over the field, racking up 19 tackles in a game Clemson won 59-0 back in 2017. He would go on to win back-to-back MEAC Defensive Player of The Year awards and the HBCU Gameday/Protect Your Skull Defensive Player of the Year before being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round.
“South Carolina State – very respected program,” Snead said during the press conference introducing Durant to the Los Angeles media. “A lot of players come out of there and make it to our league and they do play a power five school here or there. You go to a combine or pro day and you check some boxes there.”
By getting drafted in the fourth round (142nd overall), Durant is slotted for a four-year, $4.16 million deal with a signing bonus of $504k. Had he been slotted – say 100 picks later – he’d be looking at a $3.75 million deal with a signing bonus of $ 86.2k.
While many people may hate “money games” it certainly helped Durant increase his bottom line as well as SC State’s.