Jesus, Mary & Joe Gibbs Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 But the league won't allow him to... Didn't see this posted... From JLC in the Washington Post... Ryan Clark wanted to switch jersey numbers this season, to wear No. 21 in honor of his murdered friend and former teammate, Sean Taylor. The NFL said no, so Clark must stick with his No. 25 in games, but he has worn No. 21 in minicamp practices this weekend and will continue to do so throughout the 2008 season to honor Taylor. "I tried to change my number this year, but the NFL wouldn't let me," said Clark, who overcame the loss of his spleen and gall bladder last season to return to the No. 1 spot at free safety this weekend. "They kind of gave me the run-around about it -- if you do change a number after having it so long and there are jerseys made, you have to buy the other ones. I tried to do that, but they never really got back with me. It is a veteran rule, about having a number for so long. When you go to another team, it's a little different. "So I'll just wear it in practice." Clark, who joined the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent in 2006, played two seasons in Washington with Taylor. They both joined the Redskins in 2004 and became starters that season. Clark, as a free agent from the Giants, was the strong safety and Taylor, the Redskins first-round draft pick, was the free safety. The two hit it off. "I was a little bit older and I was the first guy he really played with," Clark said. "We became kind of close. He came to my house, met my parents. I met his fiance. Actually, his fiance and my wife are still really good friends." Taylor was shot during a robbery in his Florida home Nov. 26, 2007, and died the next day. Clark took it hard. "I did but his daughter's doing well, his fiance's doing well, so, how can I not be OK, you know what I mean? I just generally cared about him. To this day, I still think he was the best defensive back I ever played with, that I ever saw in person." Clark was twice denied the opportunity to wear the No. 21. Complications from his sickle cell trait in the high altitude in Denver in October caused him to lose his spleen and end his season. A month later, all NFL players wore a No. 21 sticker on their helmets to honor Taylor. "When everybody got the opportunity to wear the No. 21 on their helmet, I didn't," Clark said. "So it's kind of just my little tribute right now because I didn't get the opportunity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 I would think he could change his number when he wanted to, as you recall, ST changed his number from 36 to 21. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuckahoeSkin Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 It seems to me that a good team and a strong owner would let him do it and tell the league to cry themselves to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emor09 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Ryan Clark = a class act Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus, Mary & Joe Gibbs Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 I still can't believe we let him walk to bring in Adam Archuleta Things could be so different... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkipJackSkin Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 I'm surprised the league won't allow him to change it. He seems like a great guy, and he is a good player though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitStickTaylor21 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 I have a high respect for Ryan Clark. If he'd like to change his number to 21, I say let him. If you want to honor Sean Taylor, you should be able to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Might as well let him. I know they have the rule so people can buy jerseys with players number on it. But really, how many people in Pittsburgh are saying today...."Tommorrow I need to go to the mall and buy that Ryan Clark jersey I had my eye on?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glikster04 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I would think he could change his number when he wanted to, as you recall, ST changed his number from 36 to 21. i think it was b/c taylor was not yet considered a vet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonOfWashington Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 It's been posted in ATN I think. No less, mad class by Clark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 It's in ATN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I don't think it's necessarily classy since ST and Clark were friends. Classy is when you go out of your way for strangers, IMO. This gesture is a way for Clark to pay tribute to his friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNGwithOUTaCrwN Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 i dont think its such a bad idea.why stop people from honoring somebody in their own way,whatever that may be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCliche21 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Taylor loved playing with Clark, and he wasn't happy when he left. Clark taught Taylor a lot, and I think that this is a deserving gesture. I don't know why the hell this is being denied by the league. **** them. It's a NUMBER for Christ's sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xameil Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I think it comes down to money with the NFL. If it was a bigger name player, I bet they would have let him switch... :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanTaylor5907 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 its BS they wont let him wear 21 sean and him were very good friends. i love clark and was sad to see him go. but i think if he fights hard enough he can get it. i would love to see a true friend of sean show respect. not like that little pansy roy williams that wanted to wear 21 at the pro bowl. i dont care if its for respect i hate roy williams with a passion!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd421 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I still can't believe we let him walk to bring in Adam Archuleta Things could be so different... that is a correct statement but i think if we didnt let him go we would be worse off....we would not have drafted dirty 30 so know that sean passes we would be left without someone of his caliber of play...it sucks that he is gone now but since we did draft laron we at least have someone who could play like sean back there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InsaneBoost Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Pathetic how it works these days, money is more important than respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus, Mary & Joe Gibbs Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 that is a correct statement but i think if we didnt let him go we would be worse off....we would not have drafted dirty 30 so know that sean passes we would be left without someone of his caliber of play...it sucks that he is gone now but since we did draft laron we at least have someone who could play like sean back there Yeah, but think about it... History would completely change if we keep Ryan Clark... Sean Taylor would have lived a different life having a friend like Ryan Clark on the team... We can never know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoeRedskins Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 how can they keep a player from changing his number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skins4me58203 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Taylor loved playing with Clark, and he wasn't happy when he left. Clark taught Taylor a lot, and I think that this is a deserving gesture. I don't know why the hell this is being denied by the league. **** them. It's a NUMBER for Christ's sake. Exactly...it's just a number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmorina69 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Sounds like a good guy to me. Im always very happy when players reach out and try to do stuff like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd421 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Yeah, but think about it... History would completely change if we keep Ryan Clark... Sean Taylor would have lived a different life having a friend like Ryan Clark on the team... We can never know... i donno man i have good friends who help keep me in line and if someone walked in my house in the middle of the night and shot me there is not much i can do about that....i wasnt saying im glad he left so that sean was hurt or anything like that im just saying since he is gone we drafted help and that help ended up having the same potential as what we lost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoleSkin21 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 The reason the league won't let him change is b/c he didn't put his request in soon enough. They have an agreement with jersey manufactuers etc that for a player to change his number there has to be certain amount of notice. If you think back to Jerry Porter last year for the Raiders he wanted to change from 84 to 81 and the league said no. Here is the reasoning. Side note, I have seen Ryan Clark jerseys for sale at sports stores in MD, and VA. On second thought: WR Jerry Porter was going to change his jersey number from 84 to 81, remember? Well, it seems he's just gotten a pair of bills, from the NFL and from the Raiders, adding up to $210,000, which is what the switch would cost him—the value, apparently, of the existing stock of Porter jerseys bearing No. 84 (NFL: $130K, Raiders: $80K). Faced with that big a bill Porter said, "Never mind," and will stick with No. 84, thank you very much. It's hard to blame him. (The NFL's VP of PR, Greg Aiello, has thoughtfully suggested that Porter can minimize the damage if he waits a year before changing numbers so as to deplete a good part of the existing inventory. It seems that advance notice to Reebok and the Oakland Raiders helps cushion the blow, as it were. Aiello took pains to make clear that it's not the NFL that's demanding $130,000 from Jerry Porter, but rather Reebok. The softer, gentler NFL wouldn't do such a thing.) Here's the verbatim of what Aiello—who's commonly referred to as the league spokesman but is actually also a vice president in the league structure—e-mailed ANG beat writer Jerry McDonald: "[The NFL] would not charge him anything, but Reebok and the Raiders would have to be reimbursed for the Jerry Porter 84 Reebok jerseys they have in stock . Or Jerry can wait until next year to change numbers when the stock of his jersey is depleted . The more advance notice a player can provide when requesting a number change, the less chance there is of financial ramifications . " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoleSkin21 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 But I agree, I think you should def make an exception for this reason. NFL does stupid crap like this sometimes. Anyone remember when Jake Plummer wanted to wear number 40 for Tillman on his helmet and the NFL gave him grief about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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