Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 20, 1993 TAG: 9307200557
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CARLISLE, PA. LENGTH: Medium
"I guess you'd call it the scenic route," Clifton said Monday after his first training camp practice for NFL team. "The road I took though, that's my life story."
He did drive up I-81 to get here from his Charlotte, N.C., home, however. Clifton is 25, but a rookie free-agent wide receiver. He signed with VMI in 1986 and spent two years as a teammate of Keydets star receiver Mark Stock.
Clifton finds himself in the same situation again.
"Back at minicamp in May, I looked across the locker room from a distance," said Stock, who missed all of last season with injuries. "I saw Greg and said, `Hey, that's a guy I know.' "
And doesn't this just figure for VMI, where football success is measured in very small steps? The Keydets have a tough enough time getting someone into the NFL without having two players with roots in their program fighting on the same team for perhaps the same spot.
"Mark tried to work it so we could be roommates here," Clifton said of the Dickinson College dorm arrangements. "They wanted to keep the rookies together, so it didn't work out.
"That would have been great. We became pretty good friends while I was at VMI. I know there aren't many people more genuine than Mark Stock."
The Redskins like Stock for his speed and hands. The Redskins like Clifton, a 5-foot-11, 178-pounder, for his speed and hands. With the NFL expanding rosters to 53 players, plus a five-man practice squad, there's a decent chance these former teammates will be that again.
Neither expected it. When Stock saw Clifton a few months ago, it was their first meeting in five years.
Clifton played his "rat" year for VMI, primarily as a kick returner. In his sophomore season, 1987, he injured a knee after the second game and was given a medical redshirt.
The next spring, Clifton was part of VMI's 4x100 relay team that won the Southern Conference track championship. He also placed second in the long jump. Three months later, he flunked out.
"I was tired of going to school," Clifton admits. "I had been going all of the time since the summer of my rat year. So, I went home and got a job. No, two jobs."
Clifton worked as a plumber's assistant. He spent his nights as a part-timer unloading trucks for a Charlotte department store. A year after he was dropped by VMI, he enrolled at Division III Maryville (Tenn.).
"We didn't even get through two-a-days before the season and I knew I wasn't comfortable, so I left," Clifton said. "I worked at home for another year."
Then, he enrolled at Johnson C. Smith in his hometown. He walked on for football as a sophomore receiver.
"I played all right," he said. "They were more impressed with my speed than anything."
In his junior year, he was an All-CIAA kick returner. Last fall, he was an All-CIAA receiver, with 45 catches for 713 yards. The Redskins' scouts loved him, but he also got offers from Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami.
"All three of those other teams drafted receivers," Clifton said. "I thought my chances were better here. The Redskins are a class organization, and I understand that some places, politics can play a role in making a ballclub.
"The Redskins have a reputation for evaluating and playing the best people, giving a player a fair shot, no matter whether you're a 12th-rounder, first-rounder or free agent."
Clifton also recognized veteran Art Monk was nearing the end of a Hall of Fame career and that four-time Pro Bowler Gary Clark had flown to Phoenix as a free agent. Now, Clifton has Clark's old No. 84.
"I don't care what number I have, just as long as I have one," Clifton said. "This is the most positive thing that's happened to me. Even when I was a plumber's helper and unloading trucks, I wanted to play in the NFL. I just never gave up."
by CNB