Steelers safety Ryan Clark will not play this weekend in the playoffs against the Denver Broncos. Mike Tomlin decided that Clark should sit this one out. Ryan Mundy will start instead.
Clark has a sickle-cell trait that can lead to big problems if he plays at high altitude.
Clark has a sickle cell trait that could lead to one of the sickle-cell diseases and he is susceptible to damage to his organs if he exerts himself in high altitude.
In 2007, after playing in a game in Denver, Clark’s spleen shut down and he had to have it removed, along with his gall bladder, because of his condition.
It sounds like keeping him out was a common-sense decision.
Tomlin says that LaMarr Woodley and Doug Legursky should play against the Broncos. Legursky will probably be the starter at left guard. Cortez Allen and Mewelde Moore, meanwhile, are “questionable at best.” Despite injuries to Moore and Rashard Mendenhall, however, Tomlin says the Steelers will probably not attempt to sign another running back.
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