Steelers safety Ryan Clark said today he's been cleared by doctors to play but remains unsure whether he will take the field in Denver a week from tomorrow. "Basically, I've been cleared by all the doctors but the decision still hasn't been made," Clark said this afternoon in an interview on ESPN Radio 1250. "We still have time. Obviously it's a Monday night game, so it's a long way from now." Clark has sickle-cell trait and his blood reacted so poorly in the exertion of playing in the thin Denver air with the Steelers in 2007 that he became almost deathly ill after the game. He wound up having his spleen and gall bladder removed, lost 30 pounds and missed the second half of the 2007 season. "Coach and I have talked about it, the doctors talked abut it, my wife and I. We'll figure it out," Clark said in the radio interview. "I'll be there either way. I'll be at the game. When the decision is made, I'll let coach decide when to tell the media and everybody whether or not I'm going to play, and I'm going to kind of stay out of it from that standpoint, but I will make the decision. If we find out there is a risk, then I'm not going to play. Unless I can be told, 'Hey, you're fine, there's nothing going to happen to any other organs,' then I'm going to play, I'll go try to hurt people and have a great time. But if there are any unsure moments about it, I'll sit on the sidelines and wear a hat and coach."
He's cleared, that's the big thing, not its 100% his decision. I think he will play. You damn right he's going to try to hurt people, this is a "hurt or be hurt" league.
He's cleared, that's the big thing, not its 100% his decision. I think he will play. You damn right he's going to try to hurt people, this is a "hurt or be hurt" league.
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