Clemson linebacker is stepping away from the game
By: will-vandervort July 27, 2020

Clemson linebacker Bryton Constantin says he is stepping away from the game of football.

The redshirt freshman, who has suffered three ACL injuries since February of 2019, made the announcement on Twitter Monday evening.

Constantin did insinuate in his tweet that he plans to stay at Clemson and will help out the team in other ways. Clemson has confirmed with The Clemson Insider that Constantin will stay on the team and serve as a student coach.

“As many of you know I have been battling three ACL surgeries over the past one and a half years and it has slowly taken away my passion to step on the field again,” Constantin wrote on Twitter. “It has also made me think of my future health a lot more and look out for myself in ten-plus years.

“With that being said, I will be stepping away from playing this game. I will still be enrolled at Clemson and on the team, but just helping out in other ways.”

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Constantin had surgery on Feb. 26 on his left knee for a third time after he tore his ACL again while rehabbing the knee.

The redshirt freshman missed all of last season after he originally tore his ACL in February of 2019, while playing in a high school basketball game. Then last September, he tore it a second time in rehab.

Swinney said at the time they are not sure what was causing Constantin to tear his ACL in rehab other than just bad luck.

“It is just a tough thing,” Swinney said.

Clemson was hopeful Constantin could return to some form of practice this past spring. But he tore his knee for a third in February and on Feb. 20, he tweeted he was going to have surgery for a third time to repair it.

Swinney had said on Feb. 5, the linebacker might be able to do some individual type work during spring drills, but he would be limited in what he could do. Obviously, that never happened.

Constantin tore his ACL for a second time last September during rehab work. He originally tore his knee playing in a high school basketball game prior to coming to Clemson.

Constantin was a unanimous four-star linebacker from Baton Rouge, La. He was a top 100 player according to Rivals.com, who listed him as the No. 94 overall player coming out of high school. Rivals had him as the fifth-best inside linebacker and seventh-best player from Louisiana from the 2019 Class.

He was also ranked as the fourth-best inside linebacker in the nation by ESPN, who saw him as the No. 157-best overall player in the nation and 10th-best player from Louisiana. He was ranked No. 199 in the nation by 247Sports and as the sixth-best inside linebacker and seventh-best player from Louisiana in their ratings.

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