Clayton Grows Up Quickly

Ravens wide receiver Mark Clayton, the team's top pick in the 2005 draft, has 57 catches for a team-leading 763 yards. (By Harry How -- Getty Images)

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The smoke cleared a few seconds after Mark Clayton's car stopped spinning and came to rest in the median of Interstate 35 in McClain County, Okla.

Clayton was amazed that he had avoided the crash that had just occurred and thankful that he and his Oklahoma University teammate, Lynn McGruder, were alive and uninjured by the small red Ford Escort that had just flown into their lane from the opposite side of the road. As the picture in front of him cleared, however, Clayton could see that others were not so lucky.

The 19-year-old driver of the Escort was dead. A family of five riding in the van she hit, in the vehicle traveling just in front of Clayton's, was trapped inside. Clayton and McGruder rushed to the van, smashed a window and, one by one, pulled the family members to safety on the side of the road.

The lessons from that June 2003 evening have stuck with Clayton, now a blossoming wide receiver with the Baltimore Ravens, who can clinch the AFC North Division title with a victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and a Cincinnati Bengals loss on Monday night.

"You realize that your life is not about you," Clayton said. "The things you do, you impact other peoples' lives. No matter how you look at it, you're impacting somebody else in either a positive or negative way."

In a league populated with diva wide receivers, Clayton is having a breakout season -- leading the Ravens with 763 receiving yards on 57 catches in his second year -- and thriving because of his humility, cool demeanor and persistent work ethic.

The same traits that spurred Clayton to action on I-35 have endeared him to his Baltimore teammates and thrust him into a leadership role despite his inexperience.

"He is a tremendous worker, positive and upbeat all the time," said Bob Stoops, Clayton's coach at Oklahoma. "For us, just like he's doing for [the Ravens], he was a huge spark plug. He's just a guy that you love being around and you love working with every day."

Clayton's parents divorced when he was an infant in Arlington, Tex. His grandmother, Claretta Reese, assumed a large role in his childhood, along with his mother, and instilled in him religion and the importance of hard work. "Let your work speak for you," he said she told him.

Clayton is defined by those values, teammates say. Unlike many NFL wide receivers, Clayton's catches are rarely punctuated with a celebration. His approach is businesslike, which many of his peers find refreshing.

That was the case Sunday when Clayton hauled in one of the most important catches of his career. He ran underneath a deep throw from quarterback Steve McNair, caught it and completed an 87-yard touchdown -- his fourth of the season -- that gave Baltimore an important victory in Kansas City. He crossed the goal line, stopped for a second and waited for his jubilant teammates to meet him.

"I think that's what has helped him on the field, because regardless of what happens out there he's able to stay humble," Ravens wideout Derrick Mason said. "His motto is to go out there and get the job done. He doesn't want to bring any added attention to himself. He gets fired up every now and then, which you need to, but not to where you're going to see him on 'SportsCenter' doing a dance or anything."

Football success wasn't a lock for Clayton. NCAA Division I recruiters weren't rushing to see a 5-foot-9, 150-pound wide receiver with a 40-yard dash time of 4.7 seconds. Players that small don't usually end up at football powers like Oklahoma, yet Stoops became enamored with Clayton when he saw him on film.

"His [physical] numbers weren't great," Stoops said. "In fact, they weren't good. But what you saw on tape was a guy that caught everything, played hard and made plays all the time. We saw a guy that continued to make plays and we felt he'd make them for us."

Clayton did -- after he bulked up. He was intimidated when the first person he met at Oklahoma was Jammal Brown, a 6-6, 313-pound tackle now with the New Orleans Saints.

He couldn't even bench press the bar with 45-pound weights on either side. And when he tried, he suffered what he called a "full-body cramp." He cried to his grandmother, overwhelmed by self-doubt.

"She said: 'Just stick it out. There will be brighter days. You'll be all right,' " he said.

Clayton went back to the weight room and grew from 150 pounds in August to 170 pounds by spring practice. He shaved nearly three-tenths of a second from his time in the 40 and worked his way into the lineup with the help of the football knowledge he learned as a quarterback at Sam Houston High.

Clayton caught 45 passes for 519 yards as a redshirt freshman, both school records for first-year players. He went on to rewrite the Sooners' record book and earn all-American honors twice. Even then, he didn't stop working.

Ravens linebacker Dan Cody, Clayton's teammate at Oklahoma, remembers when he and Clayton traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz., after being named to Playboy Magazine's all-American team following their junior seasons.

"Everybody went out [at night] and kind of did their thing," Cody said. "I came in there to get Mark at about 6 o'clock in the morning, and Mark's in there doing push-ups and lunges in his hotel room. We just got done with that! This is when our time off was starting. And he didn't have a roommate. He wasn't doing it to impress anybody."

Clayton was drafted 22nd overall in April 2005, the fifth wide receiver taken that year, and set franchise rookie records with 44 receptions and 471 yards.

This season, he has done even more to break the mold of highly drafted Ravens wide receivers who fail to meet expectations. Memories of Patrick Johnson and Travis Taylor are fading with every Clayton catch.

"I just want to be consistent," Clayton said. "I just want to do whatever this team needs me to do. Whenever they call on me, I want to be ready."

Beyond his on-field contributions, Clayton is setting an example with his approach and quiet manner. As the Ravens push toward the playoffs, his teammates have noticed.

"He's a good teammate, a good friend," Mason said. "He's someone that, nine or 10 years down the line, a younger guy is going to appreciate having him as a teammate because of the kind of person he is, what he stands for, what he's able to do out on the field and the way he carries himself around the locker room and out in public."