FanHouse Ryan Clark

DENVER -- Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark wasn't happy with coach Mike Tomlin's decision to deactivate him for Monday night's key AFC showdown against the Denver Broncos. So his team tried to alleviate some of the conflict Clark may have felt as a spectator.

The Steelers defense forced three Kyle Orton interceptions and Clark's replacement at free safety, Tyrone Carter, got two of them. Carter returned one of his picks 48 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, and Pittsburgh dominated the suddenly vulnerable Broncos, 28-10, at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Tomlin, whose team improved to 6-2, made the call to keep Clark in street clothes, mindful of the defensive back's previous medical emergency in the altitude in Denver two years ago. Clark has a rare form of sickle-cell trait that is aggravated by altitude.

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In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

No one will ever accuse Hines Ward of being soft on the football field.

He's caught passes over the middle with busted ribs; he's been dragged off the field by the training staff only to return and put his body on the line again. He regularly blocks defensive ends that outweigh him by 70 pounds and he's somehow stayed healthy despite being every defensive back's top target. So when Hines Ward says that if he was Ryan Clark, he wouldn't play this weekend, it means something.

The last time Ryan Clark played football in Denver, it nearly killed him.

Clark's sickle-cell disease meant that his blood attacked his gall bladder and spleen forcing Clark to have both removed and sidelining him for the remainder of the 2007 season. He lost more than 30 pounds and needed months to recover.

So now he has to decide if he's willing to risk playing in the thin air of Denver two weeks from now. It's a big game for the Steelers, but Clark, understandably, is only going to play if doctors can give him a clean bill of health. Right now, it's hard to say which way Clark is going to decide. He's run as many tests as can be run. Doctors have poked and prodded him. But it appears that no one can tell him for sure that Clark won't have another bad reaction to the altitude.

If you're looking for a lesser-known rookie in Steelers camp worth keeping an eye on as training camp begins, the player to watch apparently is Keenan Lewis.

The Steelers' third-round pick out of Oregon State was mentioned as a dark horse for team rookie of the year by Steelers' beat writer Jim Wexell. Now SI.com's John Lopez has also singled him out as a rookie who could make an impact.

The scouting report on Lewis was that he had very good size and good enough speed. Apparently he has pretty decent instincts as well. The good news is that more than almost any other position, cornerback is one where how a player looks in shorts and a helmet isn't that different from how they look in a full-contact practice. Unlike linemen, linebackers, running backs and wide receivers, it's more about how they react to the ball and the receiver then how they react to hitting and being hit.

The Steelers had a pretty lengthy to-do list for the offseason, but a little over a day before training camp starts, they've managed to check off nearly every key task.

The announcement that tight end Heath Miller has signed a six-year extension worth $35.3 million does a very good job of getting the Steelers ready for training camp. Since the Super Bowl, Pittsburgh has re-signed or extended the contracts of James Harrison, Chris Kemoeatu, Trai Essex, Max Starks, Heath Miller, Charlie Batch and Hines Ward assuring that most of the team that won last year's Super Bowl will be around for years to come. And they also managed to get all of their draft picks signed before training camp.

A couple of months ago, the list of Steelers free agents after the 2009 season looked downright frightening. But slowly and surely, Pittsburgh is whittling down its collection of potential departures.

First the Steelers re-signed left tackle Max Starks to a four-year extension, now there's word that they are working on a long-term deal with free safety Ryan Clark. The news comes from the NFL Network's Jason La Canfora (as relayed by Pro Football Talk).

Following the 2009 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were set to have a number of key players hit unrestricted free agency, including James Harrison, Hines Ward, Ryan Clark, and Heath Miller. Earlier this offseason, the Steelers locked up Harrison with the second-richest contract in franchise history.

On Saturday, ESPN's John Clayton reported that Ward agreed to a four-year, $22 million deal (that's only $20 million less than what Matthew Stafford received for never playing a down in the NFL) that will keep the physical receiver in Pittsburgh for the remainder of his career.

The Steelers have $19 million in cap room with only a talented cornerback and a slew of mediocre or injury-prone linemen heading to free agency. So everything's great, right?

Well, take a look at this list of Steelers who are getting ready to head into the final year of their current contracts (thanks to davaughnci for pulling a list together over at Football's Future Forum): RB Willie Parker, LB James Harrison, WR Hines Ward, TE Heath Miller, C Justin Hartwig, S Ryan Clark, CB Deshea Townsend, DE Brett Keisel, NG Casey Hampton, K Jeff Reed.

Steelers safety Ryan Clark developed a reputation around the NFL this season as being one of the most physical, hardest hitting safeties in the league. By now, I'm sure you're already familiar with his work. During the Steelers' 27-23 win against Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII, Clark tried to develop a new tackling strategy, and it's one that probably won't be catching on any time soon, and for good reason -- it doesn't work.