COLUMBIA, S.C. – The thought of playing football again for the Clemson Tigers never crossed Jonathan Weitz’s mind six months ago. The lingering image was his last game wearing the Paw, a loss to a bitter rival in South Carolina.

Fast forward to Nov. 25, a rollercoaster ride later and Weitz exorcised the demons that lingered in his mind. With woes at kicker, head coach Dabo Swinney made the call in Sept. to bring Weitz back into the program and he ditched plans to move to New York for work just to suit up one more time.

Coming into the game against the Gamecocks, the ride was trending down as Weitz was 8-14 on the year, including heartbreak against Florida State. The story wasn’t finished yet, and he made three kicks that would’ve been career highs on their own, and those nine points were the difference against South Carolina.

“I had a bad taste in my mouth after last year, and I talked to the seniors about that. How much this means especially thinking I’ll forever.be a loser to the Gamecocks,” Weitz said. “Being able to get revenge this year in this fashion. You can’t make it up.”

Weitz reflected, knowing the last time he spoke to the media was in the depths after losing to the Seminoles. Second chances don’t always come, but he’s the rare case and turned it into a story worth remembering.

Back when Weitz made the decision to return, Swinney said it would either “be a great story or it’s going to be terrible. Not anything in between.” A week ago, it was approaching the latter, but Weitz’ decided to write a perfect closing arc in his story as a Tiger.

This was something he spoke to his family and close friends about. It was a “gut feeling” that the season finale would define his story. Weitz said he would’ve laughed, and thought he’d still be surfing in Charleston.

That’s the story in itself, as Weitz is a home-state kid. He looked up to the sky when talking about the emotion of this moment with watery eyes.

“The amount of times I’ve been out on the field with my dad in Charleston, thinking this is the kick that’s gonna beat the Gamecocks. Countless,” Weitz said. “To be here and be in this moment in front of y’all after beating the Gamecocks, little eight, nine, 10, 12-year-old me would just be crying just looking at this right now. It’s a lot to take in and it’s kind of overwhelming…to be in this moment, I’m just so thankful.”

Swinney referred to this moment as a “resurrection” for Weitz, and he agreed. It’s far more than that, and overcoming the adversity of a chaotic season paid off. Weitz can walk the beach in his hometown of Charleston and tell his younger self that those backyard kicks cultivated the perfect conclusion to his Clemson story.

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