Former Clemson tight end D.J. Greenlee told The State on Tuesday that Tigers assistant coach Danny Pearman used the n-word in speaking to Greenlee during a practice one day during Greenlee's playing days with the Tigers.
Greenlee, who played at Clemson from 2013-16, was reached by phone while he was in Arizona on Tuesday afternoon.
"It was just a heated argument during practice, basically. Me and the coach got into it and I was speaking with one of my teammates. He heard me use the n-word basically, and basically tried to correct me by saying the n-word back," Greenlee told The State.
"He wasn't saying that I was a n-word. It was, using the tone, in a word like, 'OK ... I was talking to my teammate and you came over here.'"
News of this incident first was discussed on social media Tuesday by Kanyton Tuttle, a former walk-on receiver at Clemson.
Tuttle on Twitter, in response to Dabo Swinney's comments about social injustice, said that: "You allowed a coach to call a player the N-word during practice with no repercussions."
Greenlee said he spoke with Swinney about the incident on Tuesday. A Clemson spokesman, asked about the tweet earlier Tuesday, said the school was aware of the social media post and was still gathering information.
That practice exchange happened in front of the entire team, Greenlee said.
"Yeah, it happened," Greenlee recalled. "It was a heated time or whatever. I spoke with him after practice. Coach Swinney explained to me what was going on. He said he was going to talk with coach Pearman. I don't know if he did. Coach Pearman apologized. This was three years ago."
Greenlee said he was eventually able to accept Pearman's apology.
"He apologized the rest of that season. He knew he was in the wrong," Greenlee said. "You can't hold a grudge against someone forever."
