Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark took a long road to a successful NFL career.
That 13-year career came to a conclusion on Wednesday when Clark announced his retirement from the NFL.
Clark announced that he will retire a Pittsburgh Steeler, after spending the best years of his career in black and gold.
“I get an opportunity to retire as a Steeler, which is very important to me,” Clark said on ESPN’s NFL Live. “To be able to play with some of the greats in Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, [James] Farrior, the opportunity to play with Sean Taylor and to do things I never dreamed of … when I signed at LSU, I was just there to get an education. To have an opportunity to win a Super Bowl, play in another and play in a Pro Bowl, it’s been amazing.”
The veteran was a mainstay in the Steelers’ secondary from 2006-13 forming a solid safety pairing with future Hall of Famer Polamalu, a group that helped the Steelers produce some of the NFL’s best defenses during that span.
Clark started 109 games during his time with the Steelers, recording 448 solo tackles and 12 interceptions.
He also appeared in two Super Bowls, winning one.
Clark was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2002 out of LSU and played well enough early on that he landed a two-year deal with the Washington Redskins.
After that Clark landed in Pittsburgh where he had his greatest success under Hall of Fame defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.
Clark wasn’t afraid to be outspoken and that often got him in trouble and then his play slipped in the 2013 season, prompting the Steelers not to re-sign him.
He spent the final year of his career back in Washington last season as a part of a Redskins team that finished 4-12.
Clark won’t be out of the game very long though as he will do some analyst work for ESPN, where he has appeared off and on for the past couple of years.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
