Ryan Clark had the uniform. He had the starting spot. He had the contract. But it wasn’t until he laid out for one specific hit that he truly became a Pittsburgh Steeler. Clark shared the story of the moment that earned his teammates’ respect, detailing it on the most recent episode of the Pivot with special guest James Harrison.
“They barely talked to me,” Clark told Harrison and co-hosts Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder.” Troy [Polamalu] talked to me a lot. [Tyrone Carter] was my dog. But everybody else [they didn’t]. Chris Henry, God rest his soul, New Orleans boy, he run a skinny [post]. We playing in Cincinnati and I fire on him, ball pops up, Ike [Taylor] picks it off. So I’m celebrating. He runs out to the middle of the field. And he was like, ‘Now you’re a fucking Steeler.'”
The hit Clark’s referring to came in his third game after signing with the Steelers ahead of the 2006 season. Midway through the third quarter, Cincinnati Bengals QB Carson Palmer threw high over the middle. Henry leaped to make the catch but was crushed by Clark, the pass tipped and intercepted by Taylor, who nearly returned it for a score.
RB Willie Parker found the end zone moments later though the Bengals would still come away with a 28-20 win. Still, it was a statement moment for Clark to join the hard-hitting Steelers’ defense, getting revenge on Henry after he found the end zone to close out the first half.
“Before that moment, I didn’t realize I needed that. It was that moment when he said that to me, I was like, ‘Okay, finally,'” Clark said. “And I think that’s what was great about that locker room.”
Clark would further his bone-crunching reputation throughout the rest of his Steelers career. Some of the biggest hits this century come from him. His most memorable is the collision with Baltimore Ravens RB Willis McGahee in the 2008 AFC Championship Game though this hit on New England Patriots WR Wes Welker was just as nasty. Clark ranks his hit on Tennessee Titans RB LenDale White as the hardest one he’s ever dished out.
Sadly, Henry died in 2009 after falling out of the bed of a moving pickup truck. Doctors discovered he was suffering from CTE due to repeated head injuries throughout his career. Clark’s hit was to the chest and not the helmet, and it’s frankly a pretty textbook moment to avoid the head even though the league had relaxed rules back then. But it’s also a reminder why the NFL has cracked down on high hits to reduce concussions and their long-term impact.
