Everyone has that one family member that they are embarrassed of. For former Pittsburgh Steeler, Ryan Clark, it was always his uncle Alex. Unfortunately, for both Clark and his hometown elementary school, Uncle Alex showed up for the homecoming game.
Advertisement
“I faked a stomachache to not play in a football game at homecoming… I just told them my stomach hurt,” Clark explained. When asked why, Clark did not hesitate to blame his father’s brother, “Cause my uncle Alex came.”
According to Clark, even in his old age, Uncle Alex still believed that he was the best football player on the planet. Noting that his antics were so bad that he was kicked out of LSU’s stadium at one point in time, the former undrafted free agent recanted
“I’m scared to play bad in front of him because he doesn’t know how to act… So, I told my dad ‘Pops, my stomach hurt. I can’t play.’ My dad knew I wasn’t sick.”
The external pressures of homecoming, on top of the potential familial shame that he would experience if he were to have a bad game, ultimately proved to be too much for the nine-year-old Clark. Figuring that it was better to fake an illness than to risk embarrassing himself, he made his decision.
“It’s homecoming, we had a little parade, we’re on the back of trucks. Everybody is telling my uncle I’m that guy. What if I’m not that guy? What if this other kid… is better than me? And now, in front of Uncle Alex too? Nope! You won’t get me out there coach.”
After being asked whether they won or lost the game, Clark snapped back, exclaiming “Man, my little team went out there and got stomped on.” However, this wouldn’t be the end of Clark’s trauma.
Even after establishing himself as a premiere talent and becoming a successful college athlete, his uncle was still there to hassle him.
“We’re walking through the courtyard. I’m a grown man now, All-SEC, the Ryan Clark that went on to play 13 years in the league, and he [Alex] goes ‘For four plays, I’m still the best mother [expletive] in the world.’ So now I’m shook… My girlfriend’s coming to the game watching me play, my momma and my daddy are there… he goes ‘I’m telling you! I can back pedal, I can karaoke, I can shuffle.'”
From the start of his football career to its finish, Uncle Alex was there to taunt and embarrass Clark every step of the way. With his presence always looming large over Clark’s performance, who’s to say whether or not the high jinxes of his family helped to spur Clark towards the success that he had?
Shame can be a great motivator for some, and considering the career that Clark enjoyed, perhaps the fear of Uncle Alex motivated him more than anyone could ever know. But then again, if the legends are true, Uncle Alex would have never gone undrafted like his nephew did in 2002.
