The Feed Pail: Deebo Samuel to sit out bowl game, Javon Kinlaw’s decision, and more

Welcome back to the feed pail, where we take a look around the internet for some choice South Carolina Gamecocks tidbits and share them back here with you. On the menu this afternoon: Deebo Samuel sitting out the bowl game, Javon Kinlaw’s NFL decision, and a couple other odds and ends.

Samuel to sit out bowl game

South Carolina star Deebo Samuel will join the recent and growing trend of NFL-bound players opting to skip the postseason to instead get ready for the pros. Given his injury history especially, this makes sense. Selfishly, it’s a bummer fans won’t get to see him one last time, but he needs to do right by himself and this is a perfectly defensible decision. Best of luck to Deebo as the NFL preparation process cranks up.

Kinlaw’s decision

In other important player news, Javon Kinlaw has made his decision on his NFL future and cut to the chase:

I’m thrilled we’ll see the big man lining up for another year in the Garnet and Black.

Samuel, Bailey, Charlton pick up SEC honors

On the heels of their Associated Press All-SEC selections on Monday, Samuel and Zack Bailey picked up another honor from the league’s coaches — and punter Joseph Charlton earned a distinction as well. Samuel landed on the first-team as an all-purpose and return specialist selection, and also picked up a second-team nod at receiver. Bailey and Charlton grabbed second-team spots as well. Charlton, who has been a bright spot on South Carolina’s special teams since he assumed the starting role, set the program single-season record with a 44.8-yard punting average. Well done for all three of these Gamecocks.

Back-to-back: South Carolina football repeats at No. 1 for best team Twitter account — Greg Hadley, The State

Speaking of postseason awards, South Carolina’s social media team picked up another one when Athlon Sports crowned @GamecockFB its first repeat champion. It’s incredible to think of how far South Carolina’s social media presence has come within just the past few years, and it’s a testament to the hard work of the folks who made this happen. From mediocre at best (and sometimes downright embarrassing) to the top Twitter account in the land. Good stuff.

Grapes or melons?

Speaking of Twitter, the Gamecock contingent, for reasons I honestly cannot being to fathom, has been overtaken by a fruit emoji debate. Current and former players have weighed in, and other official South Carolina accounts have brought it up, too.

Even the Belk Bowl has decided to throw its hat into the ring (and they’re a great Twitter follow; I highly recommend doing so if you haven’t already):

The grape faction appears to have the most support at this writing, who knows what the rest of the day will bring. As I said previously, I have no idea what’s going on and it’s making me feel very old and out of touch, but I’m glad everyone’s having fun online.