Doctors Clear Clark, But Tomlin Holds Him Out Anyway

The Steelers and Ryan Clark agonized over whether Clark would play in Denver tonight; Clark suffers with sickle cell anemia and has complications associated with high altitudes. Clark lost his spleen and gall bladder after playing in Denver last year.

Despite those complications, doctors cleared Clark to play in Monday night’s game. That didn’t matter to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who has decided to keep Clark on the sideline anyway. His reasoning:

“I think it was the appropriate thing to do in this situation. I didn’t want to be worried about his physical well-being, and I know his teammates would be, plus his wife and family. By not allowing him to play, I think we all can be singularly focused on what we came to Denver to do, which is win a football game,”