Dallas Clark had a routine before every away game he played throughout his NFL career. Before warmups, he always tested out his cleats on the field's playing surface. During warmups, he always looked up at the names enshrined on the walls around him. The names wouldn't always be familiar to Clark, but they all meant something to their respective NFL franchises; only the best of the best earn such recognition. So, Clark read the names.
At the RCA Dome, and then Lucas Oil Stadium, he didn't always look up at the names in the Colts Ring of Honor. As a tight end for the Colts from 2003 to 2011, he quickly became familiar with them. Come October 20, however, there will be a new name for Clark to look at. It will be a familiar one.
It's his own.
"To think that guys are going to be coming into the stadium and looking up and they're going to be seeing my name is like, 'What?!'" Clark said in an interview on The Last Word with Jeffrey Gorman and Matt Taylor. "It's beautiful."
The tight end will be the first of his position to be inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor after nine years with the team, during which he broke multiple records. Clark is the franchise's all-time leader among tight ends receptions (427) and receiving touchdowns (46) and played a crucial role in the Colts' Super Bowl XLI victory, the franchise's first Super Bowl win since moving to Indianapolis. And yet, Clark doesn't think he's the best tight end in Colts history – that title he gives to John Mackey – and never even thought about joining the Ring of Honor.
"It just stopped me," Clark said. "I completely forgot about it, so it caught me off guard."
It's not too surprising Clark didn't imagine he could be inducted into the exclusive group, however; he didn't even really think he belonged with the Colts when he was first drafted in 2003. The first time the first-round pick stood in a huddle with the likes of Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne he questioned what he was even doing there.
"It was intense," Clark said. "I remember getting in that huddle and I'm like 'You guys need a towel? You guys need a water? Gatorade?'"
Clark credits teammates like Manning and Wayne for motivating him and helping him become the kind of player whose career merits an induction into the Ring of Honor. His name will now join theirs on the walls of Lucas Oil Stadium in what is, to Clark, the ultimate representation of team success.
"99 percent of it is because of all the other names up there, and all my other teammates pushing us and pushing me," Clark said. "All those names represent a group of men that had a love for the game and had a love to win."
You can listen to the full interview on The Last Word on 93.5/107.5 The Fan, and can download the show on the Colts Audio Network on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
