Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich
Last year, following his team's 9-4 season, Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper got a phone call.
It was legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley, offering his congratulations.
College football history runs deep in the Harper family, as far back as the 1980 national championship, when his father, Jeff, was a starting offensive offensive lineman.
Georgia officials are close to to erecting a statue of Jeff Harper helping carry Dooley off the field (which he really did) following the Bulldogs' 1980 national title win over Notre Dame. At the same time, Cullen Harper has his own aspirations of a national title for Clemson.
"Definitely growing up in that environment helped me become the player I am today because nothing really surprised me once I got to this level," he said in a recent interview, "growing up in the football household I did."
Still, even with the weighty expectations facing this year's Tigers team, he and his father don't discuss it much.
"He really doesn't have to say anything," Cullen said. "Growing up my dad won a national championship, and I really didn't think it was that big a deal. Once you get to this level, you realize how special it is."
His father doesn't dwell on the past.
"I look at my career as something that happened 25 years ago," said Jeff Harper. "I've had my day in the sun. I've moved on. My career was something that was in the past and I pretty much focus all my attention on Cullen."
Their basement reflects that change. When Cullen was little, the room was a shrine to Georgia, with his father's helmet and framed jersey from the 1980 national championship team amongst a clutter of trophies and plaques. Now?
"He's taken over with his things," Jeff said with a laugh. "Like I said, my heydey's in the past. I'm getting to relive it all again through him."
As natives of Alpharetta, Ga., the Harpers were frequent fans at Georgia games. In 2002, Cullen and his father were on the sidelines for the Bulldogs' season opener against Clemson, Cullen's first close-up look at Division I football. He wound up playing for the Tigers in part because Georgia already had plenty of quarterbacks on its roster and didn't offer him a scholarship. Neither he nor his father lost any sleep over it.
"It just wasn't the right situation for me," he said. "Clemson turned out to be the perfect fit for me and I'm glad I wound up here."
So are his teammates. Last season, Harper threw 27 touchdowns and six interceptions. He completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 2,991 yards. He should be the best quarterback in the league, and his team should win its first ACC title since 1991 - should. As for their shot at a national title? There might be a team called Georgia in their way.
"I think Cullen's a mature person, and there's no need to say anything," Jeff said. "You can talk about it and talk about it, and it becomes more of a distraction. These guys, they realize what the expectations are. My wife has named this team the Perfect Storm."
Harper has already graduated, so he can put all of his concentration into helping his teammates weather it.
Heather Dinich covered ACC and Big Ten football for five seasons before joining ESPN.com in November 2007. She's an Indiana grad but somehow her favorite day of the week is Saturday.
