Daryll Lawrence Clark (born February 5, 1986) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He was signed by the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) as a free agent in 2010. He played collegiately for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

. From 2005 until 2009, Clark was the Nittany Lions' all-time passing touchdowns leader, as well as numerous other passing records. Clark was recruited to Penn State out of Ursuline High School in Youngstown by way of The Kiski School in Saltsburg,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Clark has also been a member of the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

and Myrtle Beach Freedom.

College career

As a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, Clark appeared in five games during the 2006 season for the

. He completed 14 passes in 27 attempts for 116 yards and ran for 48 yards with 3

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s as a backup to Anthony Morelli. He made his college football debut in a loss to Notre Dame, scoring on a five-yard run near the end of the game. Clark saw more playing time as a sophomore in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, again as a back-up to Anthony Morelli. He completed 6 passes out of 9 attempts for 131 yards and ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Clark saw significant playing time in the 2007 Alamo Bowl versus the Texas A&M Aggies. Penn State trailed the Aggies 14-0 in the second quarter when Paterno sent him in the game in place of Morelli to provide an offensive spark. Clark responded by running for 50 yards on six carries and one touchdown. The game marked with debut of Penn State's new

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...

which replaced the traditional pocket passing- and tailback- oriented offense used by Penn State that season. Clark was named the starting quarterback for the 2008 season after a highly publicized pre-season quarterback competition with redshirt sophomore Pat Devlin. Paterno cited Clark's game experience as a key factor in choosing him over Devlin. Clark's mobility allowed Penn State to continue development of its " Spread HD" offense. Clark's balanced, mistake-free performance throughout the first half of the season earned him the #6 spot on the ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

list of the season's "Most Indispensable Players." At the conclusion of the season, Clark was granted extended eligibility from the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

after meeting certain academic benchmarks required of "partial qualifiers." Clark was elected

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

by his teammates prior to the 2009 season. At the end of the season Clark established many Penn State records for quarterbacks. He surpassed Todd Blackledge in career touchdown passes with a total of 43. Clark also became Penn State's single season leader in yards passed with 3,003 yards and the single season leader in touchdown passes with 24. His record as a starting quarterback is 22 wins and 4 losses. The losses were twice to the Iowa Hawkeyes, once to

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

and once to

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

in the 2009 Rose Bowl.

Awards

Clark was twice named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Offensive Player of the Week during the 2008 season: October 11, for his three-touchdown game versus

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. and November 22, following his career-high 341-yard, four touchdown performance in the regular season finale against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

. He is a semifinalist for the 2008

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

and

Davey O'Brien Robert David O'Brien (June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, w ...

awards. The awards are given annually to the top

collegiate football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States. Like gridiron ...

player and top quarterback, respectively. At season's end, he was named a consensus first team All-Big Ten selection. Prior to the 2009 season, Clark was selected as one of 20

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's top upperclassman quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic achievem ...

candidates and named to the Davey O'Brien Award watchlist. He earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week accolades twice that season: September 4 and October 24, following wins over

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, respectively. He was named first-team All-Big Ten after the 2009 season. Clark was co-winner, with

’s Brandon Graham, of the 2009

Chicago Tribune Silver Football The ''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Football is awarded by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Ill ...

, awarded by the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' to the college football player determined to be the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the Big Ten Conference. It was the first time two players have shared the award since its establishment in 1924. He also was named ECAC Player of the Year.

Professional career

Daryll Clark went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. Clark was reportedly courted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

and

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, before ultimately signing with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

to a future contract. Clark attended the Redskins' training camp, but was not offered a contract. Shortly after Washington's training camp, Clark signed with the

on July 23, 2010. The signing came already three games into the CFL season, and some speculated Clark would have a tough time earning a starting job over Calgary's other quarterbacks who were more familiar with the offense. On May 10, 2011, the

announced that they had released Clark after just one season, in which he did not attempt any passes. Clark signed with the

of the UFL for the 2011 season. He was released on September 2. On November 15, 2011, Clark signed with the

of the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

. In 2016, Clark began playing with the Myrtle Beach Freedom of

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...

. Clark signed with the

Cape Fear Heroes The Cape Fear Heroes were a professional indoor football team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They last played in the American Arena League in 2019. The Heroes were owned by Barbara Spigner. They began play in 2012 as an expansion memb ...

in May 2017. He re-signed with the team in December 2017.

Personal life

Clark earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in telecommunications from Penn State in 2008.

References

External links

ESPN profile

Stats Crew profile

Access Athletes, Athlete Chat: Daryll Clark

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com, October 1, 2008
Video: Daryll Clark Feature

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

, December 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Daryll 1986 births Living people American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Cape Fear Heroes players Calgary Stampeders players Chicago Rush players Myrtle Beach Freedom players Omaha Nighthawks players Penn State Nittany Lions football players The Kiski School alumni Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen