The Pittsburgh Steelers addressed the safety position on Friday by signing former New York Jets S Chuck Clark. But Clark isn’t just a former Jets safety. He knows the AFC North very well from playing the first six years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens. But not everyone in Pittsburgh is a former enemy turned friend, because Clark spent three seasons in the same backfield as Steelers S DeShon Elliott.
From 2019-21, both Clark and Elliott played for the Ravens. During that time, they became friends. Clark spoke fondly of his relationship with Elliott while they were with the Ravens. After practice on Saturday, Elliott returned the favor.
“I’ve known Chuck for seven years now,” Elliott said per video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “He’s smart. He works hard, asks questions, fast, physical guy. I’m ready to see him play. Honestly, he came out here yesterday, started off the plane, do what he needed to do. So, I’m excited to have him here, honestly. That’s one of my best friends.”
During their time together in Baltimore, DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark forged a lasting relationship, both on and off the field. Now, they have a chance to work together again. Just how will that work, though?
We know that the Steelers value Elliott as their strong safety who plays a lot in the box. Clark has plenty of experience playing both safety positions over his nearly 5,000 career snaps in the league. Steelers Depot’s Josh Carney spent some time looking over his game film, and Carney views him as a quality addition to the safety position that needed some extra depth.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said Saturday that the Steelers are trying to figure out if Chuck Clark can effectively play free safety in Pittsburgh. That’s the beauty of training camp: The team can spend time finding these things out before the score counts.
Questions may persist about how well Clark can play the free safety position. But I don’t think anyone is questioning his work ethic. It didn’t take much time at all for Clark to get to work in Pittsburgh after putting pen to paper on his contract. That doesn’t seem to have surprised Elliott, but simply confirmed his excitement to have one of his best friends in the same locker room again.
And you just have to wonder if Elliott was one of those guys in head coach Mike Tomlin’s ear, recommending the Steelers sign Clark. Actually, you probably don’t have to wonder. It’s most likely safe to say Elliott would have chatted his head coach’s ear off to get the chance to share a locker room with Clark again.
