By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Steelers safety Troy Polamalu pretty much had his mind made up. There was no chance the new man -- that Clark guy from Washington -- was going to be as good as former teammate Chris Hope. There was just no way. No disrespect to anyone, but hadn't the team gone 15-1 in 2004 with Hope and Polamalu terrorizing opponents in the secondary? Hadn't it won the Super Bowl in 2005?
Poor Ryan Clark, right?
Not exactly.
Turns out the man had his own preconceived ideas when he replaced Hope after that Super Bowl season.
Troy Polamalu
"I said there was no way I'd like Troy as much as I liked [former Redskins teammate] Sean Taylor and that there was no way Troy would be as good as Sean or as good as everyone was saying he was," Clark said after practice the other day in the Steelers' cafeteria.
You might guess what's coming next.
"I'm sure glad both of us were wrong," Clark said, grinning.
Ya think?
Clark is on a legitimate Super Bowl contender for the first time in his career, an 11-3 team that will play Hope -- what a coincidence -- and the Tennessee Titans in Nashville today with the top seed in the AFC playoffs at stake. "We feel like we have the goods to get [a Super Bowl] done," Clark said. "If we don't, there are going to be 53 very disappointed people."
The Steelers' defense -- the best in the NFL -- has been huge in the team's success. "Without a doubt, this is the best [secondary] group we've had," Polamalu said. "In the past, our Achilles' heel may have been pass defense. Not anymore. That's all attributable to Ryan."
It's official.
Clark and Polamalu are thrilled both were wrong.
So are the other Steelers.
"I was hoping this would be how it turned out," Clark said. "I talked to [Steelers linebacker] Larry Foote about it. He said it wasn't like the guys didn't like me. It was just that I was replacing a guy that they loved."
Polamalu remains close with Hope, who left as a free agent and signed a six-year, $30 million deal with the Titans. The two are looking forward to playing together again in the Pro Bowl Feb. 8. Polamalu, a defensive player of the year candidate, made it for the fifth consecutive year. Hope, who has four interceptions this season and ranks third on the Titans in tackles, made it for the first time.
Hope's story is remarkable because he came back from a serious neck injury last season that required surgery in January. But it's no more amazing than Clark's tale. He came back from near death.
"The first speech I got from the doctors in the hospital was that my lungs had filled, my kidneys were dented and my stomach was closing," Clark said. "My spleen had gotten enlarged and infected and it died ...
"I never really thought I was going to die except for maybe one day when I was at home. I was so cold, I couldn't stop shaking. My wife got out the hair dryer and was blowing it on me. My mother was there, putting hats and coats on me while I was in bed. I still couldn't get warm. That was rough."
Clark had his spleen removed in November 2007, then his gall bladder in December. His weight plummeted from 203 to 170. "A lot of people were skeptical I'd ever be able to play again," he said. "They didn't think someone could lose that much weight and strength."
But doctors cleared Clark for training in late January. By June, his weight was up to 198. He was back in the starting lineup next to Polamalu the first day of training camp. The Steelers had learned just how valuable Clark was last season when he was out. Anthony Smith and Tyrone Carter tried and failed to play his position.
Is it any wonder that Clark says this is the most fun he has had in football?
"I learned that tomorrow isn't promised," he said, referring not just to his illness, but also the shooting death of his good friend Taylor little more than a year ago.
"I'm convinced God picked me and kept me for a reason ... Why not play with a smile on your face?"
Ryan Clark
So Clark has, through a dislocated right shoulder injury that forced him to miss the Nov. 3 Washington game -- of all games -- and despite some nasty hate mail after his brutal hit on New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker Nov. 30. I thought that hit was late and told Clark so. He said he respected that opinion, but he couldn't disagree more.
"I did my job on that play," he said. "I don't like that people said I tried to hurt him. I don't like being called a dirty player. I know what it's like not to be able to play and to almost have football taken away from me. I never want to be a guy who takes it away from someone else."
It's a shame that the Welker hit received more attention than Clark's many other contributions to the Steelers. The latest came in the win against the Baltimore Ravens last week when he intercepted a pass that was tipped by teammate Ike Taylor.
"I feel like I'm playing well, but it's hard to feel like you're playing great when you see Troy out there," Clark said. "I see him do things that I've never seen anyone do. There's no one else I'd rather play with."
The two really have come a long way.
"I feel like we've played all our lives together," Polamalu said. "Ryan is so unselfish and so smart. We communicate with each other and trust each other. That trust is the big thing."
The same sort of trust Polamalu had with Hope.
The same trust Clark had with Taylor.
Imagine that.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
First published on December 21, 2008 at 12:00 am
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