Steven Clarke (born April 19, 1991) 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 ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He attended the

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

where he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Vanderbilt Commodores. In 2023, Clarke pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor, for which he was sentenced to 21 months in jail.

Early life

Clarke played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for Boyd H. Anderson High School, where he was a defensive back,

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, and

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He was captain of the team in his final two years, and received All-State and All-County honorable mentions in his final year at Boyd Anderson. As a senior, he recorded 87 tackles, two sacks, and four

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s as a defensive back, adding four

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 on the offense. From 2010 to 2013, Clarke played for the Vanderbilt Commodores as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. He also briefly practiced as a running back in 2010. Appearing in 49 games, he recorded 61 solo tackles and an interception during his four years with the Commodores.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Clarke went undrafted in the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

and was later signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

as a

free agent 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 ...

. He played in three preseason games with the Dolphins, but was released from the team on August 26 before the start of the regular season.

BC Lions (first stint)

The BC Lions signed Clarke in September 2014 to their

practice roster In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He made his CFL debut against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

on October 11, 2014, recording three special teams tackles. He went on to play one more game for the Lions in his rookie season. After beginning the 2015 season on the injured list, Clarke started his first game in Week 3 against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

following an injury to Ryan Phillips, where he recorded three tackles and a sack. He started 15 games that year, while playing in 16, recording 48 tackles and one interception.

Tennessee Titans

On January 11, 2016 Clarke signed a reserve/futures contract with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. The deal is for 2 years and is worth $990,000. On May 9, 2016, he was waived.

BC Lions (second stint)

Following his release from the Titans, Clarke returned to the CFL, re-signing with the Lions on May 24, 2016.

Columbus Destroyers

On March 6, 2019, Clarke was assigned to the Columbus Destroyers. On April 13, 2019, he was placed on recallable reassignment and became a free agent.

Lawsuit and conviction

In October 2014, Clarke was one of ten named plaintiffs in a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit against several major broadcasting companies and

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. ...

athletic conferences seeking compensation. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the images of college athletes in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

and men's

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 (appro ...

Division I were improperly used without permission. While student athletes are required to sign forms allowing the NCAA to "generally promote" college sporting events, the athletes claimed that this term was overly vague and did not provide permission to commercially use their names or images. The case was dismissed by a judge in June 2015, who ruled that the players' claims were not strong enough to prove they were legally entitled to money from appearing in televised sporting events. In 2023, Clarke pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor, for which he was sentenced to 21 months in jail. He will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Steven 1991 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football return specialists Canadian football defensive backs Vanderbilt Commodores football players Miami Dolphins players BC Lions players Tennessee Titans players Players of American football from Broward County, Florida People from Lauderdale Lakes, Florida Columbus Destroyers players Players of Canadian football from Florida