During the 2007 NFL Season, Steelers safety Ryan Clark was pulled off a plane after a team loss in Denver Colorado and rushed to the hospital. Clark would later have his gallbladder and part of his spleen removed due to a medical condition caused by the sickle cell trait.
"I laid on the floor," Clark told David Greene, "if I could just numb myself a little bit, the pain will stop."
Just one year later, Ryan Clark and the 2008 Steelers defense were the best in the NFL. "We walked into every stadium saying people are gonna have trouble beating us, because they can't score," Clark said.
Pittsburgh was the favorite going into their Super Bowl 43 matchup against Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals. But the game was anything but easy for that Steelers defense. They let up a late fourth quarter comeback.
"I had tears in my eyes because I was like: 'This is how we'll always be remembered,'" Clark said.
After a miraculous touchdown from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes, the Steelers beat the Cardinals 27-23. For Clark, it was so much more than a win.
"It was the first time I had exhaled or relaxed in over a year," he said.
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