John Clay (born January 4, 1988) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He played college football for the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. In high school, he received numerous awards for his accomplishments on the field at

Washington Park High School Washington Park High School (also known as Park or Racine Park High School) is a public, four-year high school in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, with an enrollment of over 2,400 students. Its school colors are blue and orange. The school's mascot, the pan ...

in Racine, Wisconsin, being named to the Racine County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, and was one of the most heavily recruited players in the country. Clay was ruled ineligible to play by the NCAA after not meeting Wisconsin admission requirements before being ruled eligible for the 2008 season.

High school

Clay attended Washington Park High School in Racine, Wisconsin. He was named a high school All-American in 2006 and played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game. A 4-star recruit, he committed to Wisconsin on national signing day after declining offers from Tennessee, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Iowa. After graduating from high school and before the start of summer football camp, Clay was notified by the NCAA that his grades had not met the requirements to play collegiate football. He had recorded a 2.7 core GPA and received a 7 on his ACT. Clay attended summer school to complete the required course work, then rejoined his teammates and began practicing with the Badgers. His late start forced him to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

in 2007.

Honors

* 2006 WIAA Division 1 State Champion * U.S. Army All-American Bowl * Tom Lemming's Top 10 of 2007 * All-State * All-Area * Rival's 100 * 2009 Big Ten offensive player of the year * 2009 All-Big Ten 1st team * 2009 Champs Sports Bowl MVP

College career

As a redshirt freshman in 2008, Clay saw his first action on the field against the University of Akron, where he posted 71 yards and his first collegiate touchdown on just 12 carries. He finished the season second on the team and seventh in the Big Ten Conference in rushing with 884 yards on 155 carries and nine touchdowns. In 2009, Clay led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the country with 1,517 rushing yards. His 18 rushing touchdowns also led the Big Ten and tied for seventh in the nation. On November 23, 2009, Clay was named

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 ...

Offensive Player of the Year, the third Badgers' player to be so named

, joining fellow running backs

Ron Dayne Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a former professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Dayne played college football for the University of Wisconsin and won the 1999 Heisma ...

(1999) and

Brent Moss Brent A. Moss (January 30, 1972 – November 13, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers from 1991–1994. Moss played ...

(1993). Clay was on the cover of the December 11, 2009 edition of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'', an issue that featured the best sports photos of 2009. The picture was taken during the Michigan game at

Camp Randall Stadium Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895, and as a fully functioning stadiu ...

. Clay entered the 2010 football season on the preseason watch lists for the

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Le ...

, the

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information directo ...

, and the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best al ...

. He was selected as a Playboy All-American. An MCL injury sidelined Clay for the last three 2010 regular season games, damaging his chances at the Heisman. Clay was named one of three finalists for the 2010

, which is given annually to the nation's top running back. The other two finalists were Kendall Hunter of Oklahoma State and the winner of the award, LaMichael James of Oregon. For the 2010 season, Clay finished with 1,012 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns.

Statistics

Professional career

On January 7, 2011, Clay announced he would forgo his senior season to enter the 2011 NFL Draft. Clay went undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft. Clay was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent on July 26, 2011. He waived for final cuts on September 2, 2011 but was re-signed two days later to the practice squad. On December 23, 2011, he was added to the team's active roster. He scored his first touchdown on his first carry in the NFL on December 24, 2011, a 10-yard score. Clay was waived/injured on August 14, 2012, but subsequently reverted to injured reserve on August 16. He was given an injury settlement and released from injured reserve on August 20.

References

External links

Wisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, John 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin American football running backs Wisconsin Badgers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area