Getting to Know the 2012 Steelers: Running Back John Clay

During the course of training camp, we will be giving our readers a look inside the roster at the players that will attempt to make up the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers. Today, we take a look at RB John Clay.

PRO (2-0/1-0): Signed by the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 26, 2011…Signed to the active roster from the practice squad on December 22, 2011 when CB Curtis Brown was placed on the Reserve/Injured List.

2011 (2-0/1-0): 12/22: Signed to the active roster from the practice squad when CB Curtis Brown was placed on the Reserve/Injured List…12/24 vs. St. Louis: Saw action in his first career game…scored on a 10-yard run on his first NFL carry…1/1 at Cleveland: Saw action at RB…had a career-high nine carries for a career-high 31 yards…AFC Wild Card 1/8 at Denver: Had one rush for one yard in his first career postseason contest.

COLLEGE: Played in 38 games, starting 17 of them…finished his career seventh in school history with 3,413 rushing yards…finished third in school history with 5.43 yards-per-rush…his 41 career rushing touchdowns ranks fifth in school history, as does his 18 career 100-yard rushing games…finished his career seventh in school history with 629 carries and eighth with 240 career points…rushed for 100 yards and scored at least one touchdown in 10 straight games, which is also a record…a Doak Walker Award finalist in 2010…named third-team All-American by the Associated Press in 2010…named a consensus second-team All-Big Ten in 2010…named to the watch lists for the Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award and Doak Walker award before the 2010 season…named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year for his 2009 season…selected first-team All-Big Ten by media and coaches in 2009…honorable mention All-American (collegefootballnews.com)…named the Champs Sports Bowl MVP…honorable mention Freshman All-American (collegefootballnews.com) in 2008…lettered in all three seasons played…majored in family, consumer and community education. 2010: Played in 11 games, starting nine of them…finished the season with 187 carries for 1,012 yards and 14 touchdowns…led team in rushes and rushing yards per game, second in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, third in points and total offense…became sixth player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. 2009: Played in all 13 games, starting eight of them…led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the country with 1,517 rushing yards…that is the ninth-best single-season total in school history and the second-best by a sophomore…led the Big Ten with 18 touchdowns, tied for 12th-best in the country…his 18 rushing TDs tied for fourth-most in school history…his nine 100-yard rushing games tied for fourth in school history…287 carries were sixth-most in the country and 10th in UW history…named Champs Sports Bowl MVP after rushing for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. 2008: Played in all 13 games, starting one…second on the team with 195 carries for 884 yards and nine touchdowns…rushing total was fourth-best by a freshman in school history…ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 884 rushing yards and sixth in conference games with 599 yards…averaged 83.0 yards per game (including three 100-yard games) over the last seven games. 2007: Redshirted.

PERSONAL: Attended Washington Park High School (Racine, Wisc.)…played in U.S. Army All-American game…three-time, first-team all-state selection…two-time state player of the year…three-time team MVP…spent one year as a team captain…rushed for 1,485 yards and 15 TDs on 170 carries as a senior after registering 2,032 yards and 30 TDs on 162 carries the year before…led team to state title as a junior…career rushing totals include 5,005 yards and 58 TDs on 509 carries…earned four letters in football and three in track…a two-time 4 X 100 meter state finalist…son of John and Sara Clay…Full name: John Harold Clay Jr.

His Role with the Steelers in 2012:With the injury to Rashard Mendenhall, there’s an opening at running back, and while everyone seems to want to hand Issac Redmen the starting spot, Clay is among a group that could have something to say about that. At 6-1, 248 pounds will get plenty of long looks through training camp, and is a player to watch if he can find his way onto the active roster – more so in short yardage situations in 2012.