Clifton Ryan: Heart of a Hero
11/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 12, 2006
By Joe Guistina, MSU Sports Information Intern
This feature originally appeared in the Nov. 11 edition of Spartan Sports Zone Magazine.
Not everyone likes Clifton Ryan.
He hates losing and he really hates being asked about losing. He doesn't like being pinned in a corner, having to answer the same old questions time and again.
"There's just so much in this program that we've been through," Ryan said. "You kind of get tired of being asked the same questions over and over again. You get tired of meeting with the reporters when they ask you the same stuff."
So it may seem that he's surly, that he wears a chip on his shoulder. He can be short. His answers can have the same ferocity as any of the 10.5 sacks that he's recorded in his career. But really, Ryan just lays it on the line. Where others drop platitudes to dodge a question, Ryan won't.
"There's no need to put up smokescreens," he said. "I'm just telling the truth. Sometimes they want to hear it, sometimes they don't. You can't hide from reality."
It's not his fault when the Spartans have fallen off the brink so many times. It's not the coaches. It's not his teammates. Sometimes passes are dropped, tackles missed, interceptions thrown. It happens. That's part of the game and Ryan understands it.
He's the classic example of a great sportsman. When its gametime, he's ferocious, making 19.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in his career. He plays well in rivalry games (17 tackles, five for loss in last three years against Notre Dame; nine tackles, three for loss in last three years against Michigan), but when the game ends, so does the rivalry.
"I've got friends that play for Michigan," he said. "We've got guys who have relatives on Michigan, cousins, things of that nature. Guys on both teams know each other. We're from the same communities, same states."
One of his best friends is LaMarr Woodley, a Wolverine captain and defensive end, who grew up competing with and against Ryan in the recreational leagues in Saginaw. The two's bond, though they played at rival high schools, Ryan at Arthur Hill and Woodley at Saginaw, stuck.
The two even brought the rival teams together when Saginaw's Recreation Department was facing closure due to lack of funding two years ago. Ryan and Woodley organized a golf tournament that not only looked to bring badly-needed money into the program, but that would unite Michigan's Big Ten teams in doing so.
"For all of us to come together as one and have a great time, put the football aside, put the rivalry aside, and just come together for a common goal, that was a great time," Ryan said of the Heroes for Kids benefit, which has raised about $150,000 for Saginaw's recreational leagues in the last two years.
With more than 70 players from both teams attending the event last year, it has been an unqualified success that has drawn praise from the same media that can so often be infuriated with Ryan on game day.
"Any individual that's successful, he didn't get there by himself," Ryan said. "I felt it was my responsibility to show that I haven't forgotten about (the Saginaw community), so I needed to give back. I wanted to show them that I appreciated all the love and support they gave me."
Ryan has learned many of life's lessons in his five years in East Lansing. He learned humility, redshirting his first year after starring at Arthur Hill for three seasons. When he didn't start the next season, he learned to be patient, something that he has tried to pass on to other players restless for playing time.
"I was frustrated and I wanted to leave," he said, "but the older guys just told me to keep working hard. I was fortunate enough to start my third year here and I've started ever since. I just tell other guys, `I know it looks bleak sometimes, but good things are going to come if you just put in the work and be patient.'"
His outlook, his willingness to fight for his team, and his work ethic have drawn the respect from his players and his coaches, being named captain as a junior and serving again this year, becoming one of only eight players in school history to serve as captain twice.
"That's a huge honor because the Michigan State history is rich," Ryan said. "With all the All-Americans, All-Big Ten athletes and NFL players that have come through here, for me to be mentioned with some of those guys, that's a big testimony to the respect that my coaches and players have for me."
It's not a surprise, though, because Ryan is a character guy. Even though he led the team in sacks last season and will probably work his way into an NFL camp in the spring, Ryan's focus is rarely on his success.
"I play for my teammates," he said. "During tough times and good times, all we got is each other sometimes. You come up here and you've got guys from Florida, all over the globe. You go through so much together. You have to feed off each other."
For Ryan, he felt his first moments of that special camaraderie in his first tackle football game. Playing for St. Stevens Middle School, Ryan busted through the line, blocked a punt, picked up the ball and returned it for a touchdown.
"Ever since that moment, I just wanted to be the best," Ryan said. "I just wanted to give my all."
And no one can question that he has. For Ryan, who has poured out so much sweat, pain and heartbreak into his time on the gridiron, the game is about more than the score. It's about competing.
"Football is not about winning and losing," Ryan said. "It tests your character. It tests everything about you. If you can battle for 60 minutes on the football field, no matter what the score is, you're an outstanding individual."
