Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 14, 1993 TAG: 9309130084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
When he wasn't on the field, he was yelling at and goading his defensive teammates from the sideline. He was the leading receiver in the game. He broke off pass patterns and elusively darted over the middle for his catches.
His team won - for the ninth consecutive time in a Cardinals-Redskins game at RFK Stadium.
"It was a little hard at first," Clark said of the emotions he was trying to grasp along with passes from Cardinals quarterback Steve Beuerlein. "It was a little bit different. I'm not one of the good guys now.
"It was strange to hear people jeering me here. They weren't so much cheering me as jeering me."
After eight seasons in a Redskins uniform, Clark - after feeling snubbed by a club with which he earned two Super bowl rings and four Pro Bowl appearances is one of several free agents trying to help Phoenix from the ashes in the NFC East Division.
Before the season, after he signed a three-year, $6 million contract, he guaranteed the Cardinals would win 10 games.
There are nine to go, after the Cardinals hung on for a 17-10 victory over Washington. It was the franchise's first victory at RFK since 1978, when Jim Hart was quarterback and Bud Wilkinson was coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.
"There was no getting extra pumped to play here," said Clark, the former James Madison University star. "I'm always pumped, but this was coming home. I did have a little more of those butterflies than I usually have."
He wasn't the only member of his family feeling somewhat lost. His parents, up from Pulaski County for the game, cheered for both teams.
The Redskins' broken "Posse" receiving trio of Art Monk, Ricky Sanders and Clark remains the object of affection for Clark's family. After the game, while Clark's father, Milton, stood outside the Phoenix locker room waiting for his son, Gary's mom, Mabel, was down the concourse outside the Redskins' dressing quarters talking with Sanders.
"We were Redskins fans for eight years, so that makes it tough," Clark's father said. "I was glad to see Art have a good game. I was glad to see Ricky have a good game. I was most happy to see Gary do well, and have his team win.
"It was different. When Gary was wth the Redskins, our tickets were in Section 212 [in the second level]. Today we were in 136, way down low. All you could see from down there were football players."
Clark spent part of last week going one-on-one not with former teammate Darrell Green, whom he battled with on a six-catch, 93-yard day, but with Redskins general manager Charley Casserly.
The 31-year-old receiver said he would have stayed with Washington for about $1.4 million annually, plus additional compensation for last season, when Clark was paid $850,000.
Casserly fired back that Clark was seeking $2.5 million to match San Francisco's Jerry Rice as the NFL's highest-paid receiver. Casserly said that before last season, he offered Clark a four-year renewal starting at $1 million annually, with $300,000 possible in incentives. That deal would have averaged $1.45 million through 1995.
Clark, who ranks 18th all-time on the NFL receptions list with 560, found someone who wanted him more. He signed March 22 with Phoenix, getting a $1.6 million bonus, and annual salaries of $1.8 million, $1.375 million and $1.225 million.
He said that had Joe Gibbs not retired as the Redskins' coach, he likely would have stayed. Clark's father said the family "had no idea Gary would be changing teams."
Fortunately for the Cardinals, they got the same Clark the Redskins had. "I'm as cocky and cranky as ever," Clark said. "They called me `that little fiery guy,' and I haven't changed."
Clark's only regret after his victorious return to RFK was the knee injury suffered by his batterymate of several years, Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien. Clark was regarded as Rypien's favorite target.
Those days are history, but Clark expects to continue winning. With speedy rookie Garrison Hearst giving the Cardinals a ground game to go with the Beuerlein-Clark game of pitch-and-catch, Phoenix at least will be respectable.
"I guess the Redskins thought they had better receivers or better ones coming in and didn't need Gary," said Milton Clark, pushing his new cardinal Phoenix cap back on his head. "What happened was better for him.
"It wasn't just the money. It's better because Phoenix wants him, too, and the Redskins didn't."
What Gary Clark learned is that his game is a business. That doesn't mean he intends to quit playing it like a game.
by CNB