Ryan Clark: “it Seems Like For The Ravens Right Now Always The Bridesmaid And Never A Bride.”

For Ryan Clark it was extremely difficult to watch his teammates go down the way they did at Sports Authority Field at Mile High against the Denver Broncos on Wild Card weekend. As Tim Tebow hit a streaking Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime, Clark wanted in some way to help, but he couldn’t due to a sickle cell trait that could have been problematic in the high altitude of Denver. The good news for No.25 is that he was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time and will replace Ed Reed. As for Clark’s feelings on the Baltimore Ravens, a team that beat the Steelers twice this season, losing tragically to the New England Patriots over the weekend in the AFC Championship game? Find out below.

Ryan Clark joined 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh with Seibel, Starkey, and Miller to discuss the phone call where he found out he made the Pro Bowl, NFL players tweeting during the Pro Bowl, his feelings on the Baltimore Ravens losing to the New England Patriots over the weekend, and watching the Pittsburgh Steelers season end on the sidelines against the Denver Broncos.

How did it work? How did you find out? Who made the call to tell you that you made the Pro Bowl?

“It was big for me. Definitely a huge moment. I was actually sitting in a carpool dropping off my daughter to school. I was just waiting in the carpool line and Omar Khan from the Pittsburgh Steelers called me and was kind of very matter of fact was like you are going to Hawaii! For me it was one of those situations like I didn’t scream. I wasn’t incredibly excited or anything. It was just a surreal moment. It was probably something I never expected to do kind of the way I came into the league and the things I went through being cut, but it’s such a blessing. I always wanted to get to a Super Bowl, but an opportunity to play in the Pro Bowl is really amazing. Definitely a gift from god.”

You are a very active tweeter. The NFL said they are going to allow the players to tweet during the Pro Bowl on the sidelines with tweet stations. Do you have some good material for us?

“That’s going to be really important for me. I think I can even if we don’t win the game – I think I can win the tweet war. That’s going to be what I am going to go out there and really focus on if the game gets out of hand…either way I am going to go out there and try to be the best tweeter possible.”

What were your feelings on watching the Ravens lose to the Patriots lose over the weekend?

“To tell you the truth I didn’t watch a play of the game. To be totally honest with you – My daughter’s 13th birthday is today and we celebrated over the weekend. I was painting canvases the whole game. I definitely taped the other games and my phone rang off the hook when Billy Cundiff missed the field goal. I mean gut wrenching. I know for those guys it is heart breaking, but that is what football is about. You have to make every play and New England made just enough plays to win the game. I know it seems like for the Ravens right now always the bridesmaid and never a bride. It just shows that no matter how good your team is from year to year, no matter how many future Hall of Famers you have, you have to perform every day and winning Super Bowls is hard. You know, if I am not mistaken the team with the most Super Bowls only has 6 and they have been playing football for 80 years, so that tells you how hard it is to win Super Bowls and get to Super Bowls in this league and that’s what that game showed. The Ravens made enough plays to be a winner, but the New England Patriots made more.”

How do you feel about the way the game went down against the Denver Broncos at the end. How do you feel about the overtime loss? How does it impact you?

“I mean for me it’s just the will and the drive to be better. Just as losing the Super Bowl last year impacted me in the way where I started working out the week after. I mean it’s the same thing. I’ve been thinking about that play and you see that play. I’ve had people…somebody tweeted me a picture that they painted of that play. I want to tweet him back why would you tweet me that? I don’t want that. It was hard to watch. It’s hard to watch cause those are your brothers and those are your teammates. Your friends out there playing and you want to be able to help, so to have to sit on the sidelines and just let those things happen and not have the opportunity to impact the game in any way was extremely difficult for me, but looking back on it? It went as it was supposed to go. We didn’t execute. We didn’t do the things that we were supposed to do as a team and Denver won. Going forward? We know nothing is promised. We are the number one defense going into that game going against a guy who supposedly wasn’t suppose to throw for many yards against us and he throws for 316. We take that as a lesson that you have to be prepared every week. You have to go out and execute every week. I think that is the big reason for why we are excited about this off-season. Guys are ready to work out, but more importantly guys are ready to work together.”