Lindell Zanders

Lindell Zanders, father of Clemson safety Lannden Zanders, joins the podcast to share the deeply personal story of the family's home burning down last month in Shelby, N.C.

Lannden was home alone at the time, and an ember from a back-yard fire pit ended up catching the back porch on fire and then leading to the house. Lindell said he spent $200,000 to build the house 20 years ago, and now to build the same house it would cost $450,000 because of various factors including the cost of lumber.

Lannden slept through the fire, and his life was saved when the fire department turned the power off to the home. Lannden was thus awakened when his fan turned off; the fire department personnel had no idea anyone was inside the home as it burned down.

The family was angered and hurt by various headlines that mischaracterized Lannden's role in starting the fire. The worst was from aggregation-based site FanSided, whose headline was: "Clemson football player obsessed with fire accidentally burns family home down."

Lindell has remarkable perspective and peace of mind from the life-changing event. He said he's yet to even shed a tear over losing his home, as he said he is grateful that he still has his two sons.

The family has recently benefited from various GoFundMe efforts, and now Lindell is seeing a reciprocation of the giving spirit he has instilled in his boys throughout their lives.

Lindell grew up homeless at times in Florida as his father succumbed to heroin addiction and his mother struggled to get by. He remembers being happy to land in homeless shelters as a child because they had running water and electricity.

As he raised his boys, Lindell regularly took them to homeless shelters and visited children's hospitals to bring gifts and help those in need.

Lannden is currently sitting out the 2021 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. His brother Quenten is a junior running back at Western Carolina.