Danny Clark IV (born May 9, 1977) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker. He was drafted by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

in the seventh round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. Clark has previously played for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

, and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Early years

Clark was born in

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,55 ...

. He played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

and linebacker at Hillcrest High School in

Country Club Hills, Illinois Country Club Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb and south of Chicago. The population was 16,775 at the 2020 census. History 10,000 years ago, during a glacial period, this area was a shoreline, with a comple ...

where he was All-conference as a quarterback and linebacker. He was an All-area pick and also chosen All-State as a defensive back. On offense, Clark rushed for 505 yards on 77 attempts and seven touchdowns and passed for 913 yards and five touchdowns as a senior and he also lettered in basketball and baseball.

College career

Clark attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

, where he played for the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

football team. He started 44 of 45 games played in 4 seasons was named honorable mention All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

three times as a linebacker, and finished his college career with the sixth most (384) tackles at Illinois, finishing just ahead of

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

linebacker

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

. As a senior in 1999, was named honorable mention All-Big Ten after started all 12 games and recorded a career-high 122 tackles, 3 sacks and an interception. He had a team-high 115 tackles as a junior and also had 2 interceptions, 7 passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Clark graduated Illinois with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Clark was selected by the

in the seventh round of the

, with the 245th overall selection. He signed a four-year contract with the Jaguars. In four seasons with the Jaguars, Clark played in 61 games, starting 27, and saw action both at linebacker and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. In 2001, played in 13 games with 3 starts and finished with 48 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble along with 17 special teams tackles. In the

2002 NFL Season The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League. The league went back to an even number of teams with the addition of the Houston Texans; the league has remained static with 32 teams since. The clubs were real ...

, he started all 16 games for them and finished as the Jaguars’ 2nd-leading tackler with a career-high 152 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception, a pass defensed and a forced fumble. In 2003, his final season in Jacksonville, Clark played in all 16 games with 8 starts and finished with 73 tackles and 11 special teams tackles.

Oakland Raiders

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Clark signed a two-year contract by the

on March 11, 2004, and became a full-time starter at linebacker with the Raiders. Clark started all 16 games in 2004, and led the Raiders in tackles with 129 tackles (98 solo), 2 sacks and 5 passes defensed. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Clark started 15 of 16 games for Oakland and led the Raiders in tackles for the 2nd consecutive season with 113 stops (82 solo), a sack and 7 passes defensed.

First stint with Saints

Clark signed a one-year contract with the New Orleans Saints on September 5, 2006, and played one season with the team. He appeared in all 16 games, starting none, and recorded 29 tackles—13 tackles (10 solo) and 13 tackles on special teams as Saints appeared in the NFC Championship game.

Houston Texans

Clark signed a one-year contract with the

on March 7, 2007, and he went on to appear in 13 games including eight starts, and recorded 51 tackles and an interception and a forced fumble.

New York Giants

On March 13, 2008, Clark was signed by the

to a two-year contract. In 2008, he played in all 16 regular season games with 15 starts and started the NFC Divisional Playoff game vs. Philadelphia and finished 3rd on the team 74 tackles (36 solo), 6 tackles for losses, 1 pass defensed, 1 forced fumble and 2 special teams tackles.

Second stint with Saints

Clark signed with the

on September 6, 2010. He started 10 games and had 59 tackles during the season. He retired from the Saints on August 10, 2011.

Personal life

Danny Clark IV's father is Danny Clark III.

References

External links

New York Giants bioOfficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Danny 1977 births Living people People from Blue Island, Illinois African-American players of American football American football linebackers Illinois Fighting Illini football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Oakland Raiders players New Orleans Saints players Houston Texans players New York Giants players Players of American football from Illinois 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople