Clark Cromwell Haggans (born January 10, 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 with ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the fifth 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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. Haggans played in the

NFL 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 major ...

from 2000 through 2012, for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Haggans earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

with the Steelers in

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

College career

Haggans played

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

. He was a productive pass rusher at Colorado State, where he walked on as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, eventually earning a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

. He was a teammate of former Steelers teammate

Joey Porter Joseph Eugene Porter (born March 22, 1977) is an American former football outside linebacker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), and is a former outside linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After playing coll ...

and former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

. Haggans holds the Colorado State all-time sack record to this day, with 33 sacks recorded. He was inducted into th
Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame
in 2015.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers drafted Haggans out of the fifth round of the

. He became a regular starter at left outside linebacker in

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 ...

when the team released long-time starter

Jason Gildon Jason Larue Gildon (born July 31, 1972) is a former outside linebacker for the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers (1994–2003) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2004). He was selected to three Pro Bowl teams from 2000, 2001, and 2002, and i ...

. Haggans recorded six

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s in 2004, and had nine sacks during the

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 ...

regular season. Haggans was second on the Steelers defense in tackles for

, and also recorded a sack, helping the Steelers defeat the

. In 2008, Haggans became an unrestricted free agent.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 26, 2008, Haggans agreed to a one-year contract with the

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a foot injury on December 19, ending his season. Without Haggans, the Cardinals would reach

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, but would lose to his old team, the

, 27-23. An

unrestricted 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 the 2009 offseason, Haggans was re-signed to a three-year contract by the Cardinals on March 17. In 2009, he would go on to register 74 tackles, 5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles in 16 games played. In 2010, he had 47 tackles, 5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble in 13 games. In 2011, he reunited with

Ray Horton Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

who was hired as the new

defensive coordinator to implement the

style defense at Arizona. He re-signed with the Cardinals on June 5, 2012, on a one-year deal.

San Francisco 49ers

On September 2, 2012, Haggans agreed to a one-year contract with the

. The 49ers finished the

2012 NFL Season The 2012 NFL season was the 93rd season of the National Football League and the 47th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowboys ...

with an 11-4-1 record and reached

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

, but lost 34-31 to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Personal life

He participated in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and track at

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estates, California, United States. History The school was formed in 1991 when Miraleste High School, Palos Verdes High School, and Rolling Hills High School were merged ...

in Southern California, earning three letters in each sport. During his freshman and sophomore years, Haggans was on football teams that went undefeated. In 1993 and 1994, he was named all-league as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

, while also earning all-division honors. In 1994, Haggans helped lead PVPHS' varsity team to a league title. He has a son named Damon and a daughter named Alianna. He majored in art at Colorado State.

Charity

In 2012, Haggans became the first NFL player to support the Black Out Child Abuse Campaign. Black Out Child Abuse, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation, with offices in Westerville, OH, was founded in 2012 and serves families and organizations across the country; bringing education, assistance and support to those in need. Haggans wears blackout paint as opposed to the stick on in support of this cause.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio

Arizona Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haggans, Clark 1977 births Living people American football defensive ends American football outside linebackers Colorado State Rams football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Torrance, California Arizona Cardinals players San Francisco 49ers players