Jeromey W. Clary (born November 5, 1983) 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 with ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who played his entire career for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the Chargers in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

and played college football at

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

Early life

Clary attended Mansfield High School in

Mansfield, Texas Mansfield is a suburban city in the U.S. state of Texas, and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area. The city is located mostly in Tarrant county, with small parts in Ellis and Johnson counties. Its location is approximately 30 miles f ...

College career

Clary closed out his K-State career as one of the top offensive tackles in the

Big Twelve Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

, where he excelled on the field, as well as in the classroom. He was selected to the Academic All-District VII team as a senior and was also a three-time Academic All-Big Twelve first-team selection. During his collegiate career, Clary showed his versatility by playing both tackle positions. Clary proved to be an extremely durable player during his

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

career, starting 37 consecutive games over his final three seasons. Clary earned his bachelor's degree in psychology and graduated in December 2005.

Professional career

The

selected Clary out of Kansas State with their pick in the sixth round (no. 187 overall) of the

. In his rookie season, Clary spent the year on the Chargers'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. Clary became a starter late in the 2007 season. A reserve for most of the year, the coaches inserted him into the starting lineup at right tackle in early December to give the team’s struggling running game a spark. Over the final five games, the Chargers rushed for 880 yards, scored eight touchdowns and went 5-0. Clary’s ascension into the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' o ...

helped the Chargers capture the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

title en route to a berth in the AFC Championship Game. Clary earned the starting right tackle spot in mini camp. Following the 2008 season, he was awarded $405,859 in additional pay from the NFL's performance-based pay system, which gives financial compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary; this made him the biggest beneficiary in 2008. Clary re-signed a one-year contract with the Chargers during the 2009

off-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

. Clary was the Chargers’ winner of the

Ed Block Courage Award The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

in 2010 after recovering from a serious ankle injury in 2009 that required surgery. He came back from the injury and played every snap during the 2010 and ’11 seasons. Clary again re-signed with the Chargers, this time on a four-year, $20 million contract almost immediately following the lockout during the 2011 offseason. The contract was front loaded, so Clary earned $8.5 million in the first year. Clary went on to start and play in all 16 games for the Chargers in 2011. In 2012, Clary started and played in 14 games for the Chargers at

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

, missing two games due to a knee injury. Clary was moved to

right guard Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gill ...

during the 2013 season after the Chargers drafted D.J. Fluker in the first round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. After starting in 93 of his 103 career games, recurring problems with Clary's hip sidelined him for the entire 2014 season. On January 8, 2015, he announced his retirement from the NFL.

Personal life

Clary and his wife, Breanna, have two sons, Cannon and Jackson. Clary enjoys country music. His favorite artist is

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulel ...

. His hobbies include golf and spending time with his family at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

’s beaches and amusement parks.

References

External links

Kansas State Wildcats bioSan Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clary, Jeromey 1983 births Living people People from Norfolk, Nebraska American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards Kansas State Wildcats football players San Diego Chargers players Ed Block Courage Award recipients