He’s not worse for the Ware
Broncos left offensive tackle Chris Clark is up for the challenge of facing the Cowboys’ pass rusher.
He will be lining up at right defensive end wearing awhite uniform and Cowboys blue No. 94.
He will be large at 6-foot-4, 258 pounds, and he will be fast, having run the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds during a combine test before his rookie season. Let’s put those numbers together again — 6-4, 258, 4.5. They add up to freaky.
He has the durability of iron, having never missed one of the 132 games his Dallas Cowboys have played since he entered the league in 2005 as aman of Troy, as theNo. 11 overall draft pick.
He is already the Cowboys’ all-time sack leader and ranks 17th all time in the NFL with 115— four this season.
He is DeMarcus Ware, the greatest and baddest of Cowboys.
This guy, Chris Clark, is your life. Come Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Clark, the Broncos’ left tackle, will be lining up against one of the NFL’s alltime best pass rushers.
“He’ll be on my side,’’ Clark said. “He’s been a good player for a long time. Actually, he’s a great player. He’s still playing at a high level. Just got to prepare and get ready for guys like that. Playing with high intensity is a must for me.’’
Clarkwas late to football, later still to the Broncos’ starting lineup. The youngest of eight brothers and sisters, Clark grewup in NewOrleans doing a little bit of everything but playing organized sports. His father, Lawrence, operated a forklift on the riverfront, loading and unloading cargo fromthe ships. Adele was a stay-at-home mom.
To the baby of the family, a strong influencewas Lawrence Jr., the next-to-youngest brother.
“I didn’t even like football,’’ Clark said. “But he started playing and he kind of forcedmeinto it, because I became bigger than him. I didn’t like it at first, but I just grewto like it and nowI love it.’’
Clark didn’t put on pads until he was 15. Now he’s a 6-foot-5, 305-pound blindside protector of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
One of the friendliest and hardest-working players on the Broncos’ roster, Clark was a three-year starting left tackle at Southern Miss, then waited until his sixth season in the NFL before he got his first start at the posi- tion.
It took a foot injury to allpro Ryan Clady late in the Broncos’ second game against the New York Giants for Clark to get his chance.
“He’s definitely talented,’’ Broncos coach John Fox said of Clark. “If you go back, I thinkwe (agreed to a contract extension) the week before Ryan got hurt. We’ve always liked him. There’s a lot of communication involved at that position, and he’s a smart, tough guy who works hard.’’
The Broncos won both gamesClark started, scoring a combined 89 points. He did get beat once by Oakland Raiders defensive end LamarrHouston, but the sackwas nothing that Manning couldn’t get up from.
Ware presentsClarkwith another challenge. The Broncos probably won’t leave Clark alone in space againstWare. They’ll move a tight end to his side or make sure running back KnowshonMoreno is ready for the chip block.
But the primary responsibility of keepingWare from Manning’s way will fall to Clark.
“Being in this offense, you don’t want to be the weak- est link,’’ Clark said. “Like Coach Fox tells us all the time, be ‘the’ guy, not ‘that’ guy. Nobody wants to be that guy, especially a blindside tackle.’’