Jeremy Clark feeling comfortable in Riders’ secondary

Jeremy Clark knows how important a great football atmosphere can be for a player.

It’s why he chose to go to the University of Michigan over other NCAA schools.

“I had a wide variety of schools I was (choosing) from,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive back said. “And then once I went to one of those games — I forgot what it was; I think it was a Notre Dame-Michigan game — and I just looked at my dad, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to go: A good football school (and it offers a) good education. Just as long as they take football seriously here.’ ”

He got those same feelings when he first arrived in Saskatchewan and the CFL in 2021.

“I was telling my family and I’m like, ‘Man, this is just like college. It’s a good crowd, it’s a nice atmosphere (and) the fans are nice. It’s just a good place to play at,’ ” he said of Regina.

The 28-year-old cornerback originally hails from Madisonville, Kentucky, which is a place he likens to his adopted home in Canada.

“It’s not too different from Regina. I’m from a small country town,” Clark said when describing the city of more than 19,000 residents. “There’s not much to do out there so a lot of kids choose to get into football or basketball.

“The basketball coach back in my high school used to try and get me to play all the time. I liked playing basketball for fun but I didn’t want to play basketball. I was going to stick to football. He was always upset about that.”

While his main focus was football, Clark was also an accomplished member of his track and field team, lettering twice at Madisonville North Hopkins High School.

“My football coach was also the track coach. So he was just like, ‘If you guys aren’t doing anything, if you weren’t doing powerlifting, then come run track,’ ” Clark said.

“So there’s a lot of football players over there that just ran track and found out we were good at it. And then we found out we actually had a good little team; we almost went to state (championships).”

While he did receive offers from schools like Ohio State, Clark decided to become a Wolverine at Michigan.

He played two years at safety under then-head coach Brady Hoke.

But in 2015, Hoke was replaced by Jim Harbaugh, who had a successful stint as head coach of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, including an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII.

“He already had everybody’s attention when he came into the room. Everybody just wanted to learn from him, him being in the Super Bowl and being in the (NFL),” Clark said.

But when Harbaugh wanted to move Clark to cornerback, he wasn’t a fan of the move at first.

“I was telling my dad ‘I don’t know what this guy’s doing, coming in changing my position.’ He was just like, ‘You know, this coach knows what he’s doing. So trust the process and go with it,’ and ever since then, I’ve just been feeling natural at corner,” Clark said.

In 36 games as a Wolverine, Clark had 49 tackles and three interceptions – all three of them in his junior season.

But just four games into his senior season, Clark tore his ACL.

“It was tough, especially your senior year with everybody talking about the draft and everything. And then once that happened, all those voices faded away,” Clark said.

Clark applied to the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility but it was rejected.

“Once they said that we can apply for it, it got my hopes up that I was coming back (to Michigan). And then (when) they said I couldn’t do it, it was kind of like a disappointment all over again. So like I said, it was just another bump in the road,” Clark said.

Clark got over his disappointment when he was taken by the New York Jets in the sixth round (197th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft.

“When I went on a visit (to New York), the coach told me, ‘I don’t think we’re going to draft you,’ and he told me that in person,” Clark said. “That was the last team I expected to get drafted to.”
But Clark was still recovering from his torn ACL and was released by the Jets in 2019.

Clark got another opportunity to play football as a member of the Seattle Dragons in the XFL.

“(That league) was fun. I had a really good time. I think if you asked a lot of guys who played in it, they would say that’s some of the most fun they had. So I really enjoyed that experience; I just wish it would have lasted longer,” Clark said.

And as a wrestling fan growing up, Clark was excited about the time he got to meet Vince McMahon, who was also the XFL owner.

“When you’re a kid and you’re watching The Rock, Stone Cold (Steve Austin) and all those guys, to see (McMahon) walk through the locker room, I had to introduce myself to him just to let him know, ‘I used to watch you when I was (a kid),’ ” Clark said.

The 2020 XFL season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the league to cease operations. So Clark once again found himself looking for the next step in his football career.

“I was just telling my agent, ‘I still want to play,’ and then we just ended up getting a call from the Riders and then the rest is history from there,” Clark said

Clark signed with the Riders and was at training camp with the team in 2021 but was released.

He was brought back Sept. 15 due to a number of injuries in the Riders’ secondary.

“I kind of knew some people and stuff like that and the scheme. So I just had to just get it going a little bit: ‘Give me a week or two,’ ” Clark said.

Clark started in his first CFL game Oct. 23 against the Calgary Stampeders. He had three tackles and an interception off Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell in the 20-17 win.

“It’s always good to start like that and then it builds the confidence. From that game on, my confidence was really high,” Clark said.

He started the rest of the 2021 season, which ended in a 21-17 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Division final.

Clark came into the 2022 season as one of the team’s starters in the defensive backfield.

“It means everything. Getting released last year, that’s always a humbling experience. So you just want to prove that you belong here from the beginning,” Clark claimed.

The cornerback has 11 tackles so far this season and will look to help the Riders bounce back from last week’s 30-24 loss to the Toronto Argonauts.

The Riders host the Argos on Sunday, with kickoff set for 5 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 3 p.m.

Saskatchewan had an extra hurdle this week, as the team dealt with a COVID outbreak that cancelled two of its practices.

“When you’re coming off a loss, you just want to get to the rematch. So I feel like a lot of guys are going to be extremely focused,” Clark said. “We’ve got more guys playing that usually don’t so it’s always exciting to see what they can do.”