When Dallas Clark stepped into the Colts' huddle as a rookie in 2003, he looked around and saw established stars: Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, Tarik Glenn, Jeff Saturday and a young Reggie Wayne, among others.
His first thought?
"You're like, okay, I'm at the wrong place," Clark said on this week's episode of the Colts Reunion Podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts/Spotify). They're fine. They don't need this guy."
Clark, though, carved out a critically-important role in the Colts' offense early in his career thanks to the approach he had to have during his college career at Iowa.
"I had the walk-on mentality — I walked on as a linebacker," Clark told Matt Taylor and Bill Brooks. "Thank God coach (Kirk) Ferentz saw that I really was a bad linebacker and said maybe we'll try this tight end thing. And thank God, otherwise we never would've met — I'd be a great teacher and a coach somewhere, which would've been perfectly fine. But it was one of those things where I walked in the huddle and was like, okay, I see what I gotta do. I gotta earn it, and I gotta prove myself every day."
Listen to the full interview on the Colts Audio Network on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Clark also discussed on the Colts Reunion Podcast:
- Why he and his wife moved back to Iowa after his playing career ended, and what kind of farming he's doing back home
- How he's scratching his competitive itch in retirement
- His connection with legendary IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan
- Advice for Colts rookie tight end Will Mallory
- Why he didn't wear gloves while playing
