30 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers of the 2000s
By Tommy Jaggi
14. Ryan Clark, FS (2002)
Ryan Clark was a former undrafted free agent who spent his first years with the Giants and the Redskins. During which time he bounced around at cornerback, strong safety, and even nickel linebacker.
However, the Steelers got the chance to land him in 2006, and they didn’t look back. With an All-Pro strong safety in Troy Polamalu, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau moved Clark to free safety upon his arrival. That is where he played for the next 8 seasons in Pittsburgh.
Ryan Clark was a diamond in the rough for the Steelers and served as an excellent compliment to Polamalu. In his 13-year NFL career, Clark made the Pro Bowl just one time as a 32-year old in 2011, but his value to the team cannot be understated.
Clark was often asked to play single high – a safety blanket on the back end – and cover for Polamalu (who was too talented to be restrained to a single role or area of the field).
However, out of all of his traits, Ryan Clark was known best for his remarkable hit power. He was a missile in the back end and often hit opposing players so hard that he would sometimes injure himself.
It was a different league back then, and Clark would no doubt be flagged for unnecessary roughness on the regular today but Clark helped put fear in the offense and added physicality to the Steelers defense for nearly a decade.
He finished his long career with 928 tackles, 55 passes defended, and 16 interceptions on 152 starts.