Bresee recounts the story of Tyler Venables' moped accident

Bresee talks to the media Wednesday at the Orange Bowl.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Dec 29 13:56:03 GMT-04:00 2022

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida – Bryan Bresee hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to smile when talking to the media this season, but he turned into his old, laughing self on Wednesday when describing an accident that turned out to be less serious than it looked.

Junior safety Tyler Venables has missed Clemson’s last three games after injuring his hamstring, but a moped accident back in October caused him to miss the game at Boston College. Venables was outed on social media when someone else posted pictures of his injuries.

Bresee, who has navigated a tough season on his own, was asked multiple times on Wednesday about the NFL Draft and whether he has made a decision to return. So when he started to tell the story of Venables’ moped accident – something Bresee witnessed firsthand – his face lit up and he turned into a storyteller.

“He had a little rough go round,” Bresee said of Venables. “I was right behind him when he got in his little moped accident, and it scared the crap out of me. Like, I ran out of the car – it was me and Barrett Carter, and he’s taking me to class – and I see Tyler in front of me and all of a sudden it’s like, boom, he gets in an accident. And I get out of the car, start freaking out, call our trainer Pat.”

Bresee can smile about the incident because Venables is ok – he did sustain a concussion and lost some skin along the way – but he only missed the one week. Bresee didn’t know that at the time, however, because all he saw was Venables go face first into the trunk of a car.

“Coming out of the facility onto Perimeter, and a car stopped in front of him, and he was looking to see if a car was coming,” Bresee said. “He thought the car was going to go, and he was looking to see if another car was coming. He didn’t know the car was stopped in front of him, so it was just boom, right over.”

Carter agreed with Bresee’s version of the events, but also said that Venables, known as T-Bone, is the type that would get into that type of trouble.

“I was driving him to class, and Tyler just ran right into the back of that car,” Carter said. “I was like, ‘oh my God.’ I got out to see if I could help him, and if you think about, if that’s going to happen to anybody on our team, it’s going to be T-Bone. And T-Bone would probably say the same thing. I am glad that Tyler has recovered form that, but I was like, ‘T-Bone, what are you doing?’”

Why would it be T-Bone?

“T-Bone is an interesting guy,” Carter said. “He’s probably the funniest guy on the team. He is so goofy and he brings that once-in-a-lifetime energy. I am glad he is on my team.”

Venables is one of the leaders of the secondary and has been a constant presence at practices and in the meeting rooms. Despite missing time, the veteran has been rock solid for his teammates.

“He’s handled it the best anybody can,” Bresee said. “When he was hurt, he literally just became another coach out there on the field because he knows the defense so well. So, he’s handled it like a pro. I’m looking forward to when he’s able to play next, and we’re happy to have him back out on the field.”