Ryan Jacob Clady (born September 6, 1986) 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 ...
offensive tackle who played nine seasons in 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 played
college football for
Boise State University
Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...
, and earned consensus
All-American honors. The
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
selected Clady in the first round of the
2008 NFL Draft, and he was named to four
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
s in his eight years with the team. He also played one season for the
New York Jets.
Early years
Clady was born in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
He attended
Eisenhower High School in
Rialto, California and was a
letterman in
football and track. He was also a first-team All-
Citrus Belt League selection, a first-team All-
San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...
selection, and a first-team All-
California Interscholastic Federation
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...
Division I selection.
In
track & field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
, Clady competed in the
shot put (PR of 15.90m) and the
discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...
(PR of 46.41m).
Clady graduated from Eisenhower High School in 2004. Rated only a two-star recruit by
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
, he was not ranked among the nation's top offensive tackle prospects.
College career
Clady attended
Boise State University
Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...
, where he played for the
Boise State Broncos football
The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games o ...
team from 2004 to 2007. He
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 ...
ed as a freshman in 2004. He earned the starting right tackle position at the beginning of the 2005 season and started 13 of 13 games. He was voted to several
dotcoms
The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.
Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compos ...
' second and third team
All-American squads. He was moved to the left side before the 2006 campaign, starting all 13 games. Clady earned first-team All-
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
Due to mos ...
(WAC) honors following his sophomore season and was also named to the prestigious
SI.com Second-team All-American squad. In 2007, he started each game he played for Boise State and was once again a First-team All-WAC selection. Clady also made several First-team All-American rosters.
Clady was part of Boise State's historic 43–42 overtime win over
Oklahoma in the
2007 Fiesta Bowl
The 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played as part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was played on January 1, 2007, at its new venue, the Univer ...
. In that game, many scouts first were able to see Clady on a national stage and marveled at how well Clady handled Oklahoma pass rushers. He also had the key block for
Ian Johnson in the game-winning
Statue of Liberty play.
Professional career
2008 NFL Draft
Clady drew comparisons to
Chris Samuels
Chris Samuels (born July 28, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Alabama, and ...
. He was selected by the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
, with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the
2008 NFL Draft. Clady was the highest drafted player in Boise State history and the 11th to be selected in the 1st round. He was also Denver's highest selected offensive lineman since
Chris Hinton in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
. The Broncos signed him to a five-year deal worth $46.75 million. It was reported to guarantee $23.375 million.
Denver Broncos
Clady started every game during the
2008 NFL season and gave up just a half of a sack while committing only three penalties. Following Week 12 of the
2008 NFL season,
Peter King 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 ...
'' said Clady was the third-best rookie overall. On December 12, 2008, Clady won the
Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week award, after his game against the
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The ...
. That was the first time all season that a
lineman, either offensive or defensive, won the award.
Clady finished third in voting behind
Matt Ryan and
Chris Johnson for the 2008
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He was the only offensive lineman to receive any votes. He was the only starting NFL offensive lineman to give up less than one sack for the entire season. He was named to the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
NFL All-Pro Second Team behind
Michael Roos
Michael Roos (born Mihkel Roos, October 5, 1982) is a former football offensive tackle who played his entire career for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Titans in the second round of the 2005 NFL ...
and
Jordan Gross
Jordan Alan Gross (born July 20, 1980) is a former American football offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American. He s ...
.
In 2009, the ''
Sporting News'' listed Clady as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the NFL.
[Sporting News Offensive Tackle Ratings 2009](_blank)
/ref> After the Broncos' October 4, 2009 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Clady set a new NFL record for consecutive games to start a career without giving up a full sack. Through his first 20 games, he surrendered only half of a sack. Clady was named a starter for the 2009 Pro Bowl and was named first-team All-Pro by the '' Sporting News'' and Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
after the 2009 season.
On April 28, 2010, Clady injured his patella tendon while playing basketball but did not miss a game the following season.
In 2011, Clady played all 16 games and was added to the 2012 Pro Bowl roster along with teammate Willis McGahee
Willis Andrew McGahee III (born October 21, 1981) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Miami, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of t ...
. After the season, the Broncos tried to sign Clady to a long-term deal and offered him a 5-year $50 million deal with $28 million guaranteed, but he refused.
In the 2012 season, Clady allowed just one sack the entire season. Towards the end of the season, he tore a labrum in his right shoulder but still did not miss any time. He played the last few games of the season including the playoffs with the injury and had surgery to repair it only after the season ended. He was selected to the 2013 Pro Bowl
The 2013 Pro Bowl was the National Football League (NFL)'s sixty-third annual all-star game which featured players from the 2012 season. It took place at 2:30 pm Hawaii–Aleutian Time ( UTC−10:00; 7:30 pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, Ja ...
but did not play because of his shoulder injury.
On March 1, 2013, in order to prevent Clady from becoming an unrestricted free agent, the Broncos assigned him the franchise tag
In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...
, worth $9.823 million. On July 14, 2013. Clady agreed to a new contract with the Broncos worth $52.5 million for five years. Of that, $33 million was guaranteed over the first three years of the contract. There was a maximum of $5 million in incentives attached to the deal. If Clady was named to the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
's All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
team, then he would receive an extra $500,000 each subsequent season. Should he be named to the team a second time, he would receive an extra $1.5 million. The deal came one day prior to the July 15 deadline to extend "franchise-tagged" players.
On September 18, 2013, Clady was placed on season-ending injured reserve, due to a Lisfranc injury he suffered during a week two matchup against the New York Giants. The Denver Broncos signed Winston Justice to replace his roster spot. Without Clady, the Broncos finished the 2013 season with the #1 offense and a 13–3 record. They reached Super Bowl XLVIII
Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...
, but lost 43–8 to the Seattle Seahawks.
Clady played in the 2015 Pro Bowl
The 2015 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2014 season. It began at 6 pm local time on January 25 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and it was the first Pro Bowl to be held outside Hawaii ...
, earning his fourth appearance based on play during the 2014 season.
On May 28, 2015, Clady tore his ACL during OTA's. He was placed on injured reserve and sat out for the 2015 season.
On February 7, 2016, Clady was part of the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50
Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...
over the Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...
by a score of 24–10, but he did not play in the game due to his previously torn ACL.
New York Jets
On April 9, 2016, Clady and a seventh-round pick were traded to the New York Jets in exchange for a fifth-round pick. On April 10, he signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Jets, including a club option for 2017. He was placed on injured reserve on November 9, 2016, with a shoulder injury. It was reported he was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff
The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...
and missed the rest of the season after having surgery.
On February 15, 2017 the Jets declined Clady's $10 million option, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Retirement
On August 1, 2017, Clady announced his retirement from the NFL after nine seasons, tweeting, "I'm excited about what life holds for me going forward." On December 30, 2017, he signed an unofficial ceremonial contract with the Broncos to retire as a member of the team.
References
External links
*
Boise State Broncos bio
Denver Broncos bio
New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clady, Ryan
1986 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Rialto, California
Players of American football from Long Beach, California
American football offensive tackles
All-American college football players
Boise State Broncos football players
Denver Broncos players
New York Jets players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
Unconferenced Pro Bowl players
Ed Block Courage Award recipients