6 – Sack Clayborn Considered Retirement
Atlanta Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn wrote himself into franchise history against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
His six sacks marked an impressive personal record and helped the Falcons to a 27 – 7 victory. However, remarks that he considered retirement before the season dominate the headlines.
Clayborn has had a stop-start career due to injuries. The NFC defensive player of the week said it was his injury problems that nearly forced him out of the game:
“I gave it thought for about a month. Shared it with my wife. I told Gerald (McCoy). Told my agent, Blake. My wife talked me out of it.”
Clayborn, 29, did not play in the Super Bowl game after being placed on injured reserve with a torn left biceps, suffered during a playoff win over Seattle.
Clayborn has torn biceps on both arms and also undergone multiple knee surgeries for ACL and MCL tears.
“I was tired of being hurt,” he said. This season is his last year of a two-year contract worth $3.75 million a year.
Clayborn now leads the Falcons with 8 sacks for the season, and is feeling good about life in Atlanta:
Bonus
“I definitely want to finish my career out here in Atlanta because they believed in me even when my career wasn’t what it was in Tampa. They signed me here on a one-year deal to give me another chance. So, I definitely want to finish my career here.”
His contract also contains “Not Likely to Be Earned” bonuses related to sacks. He’s already earned an additional $750,000 for his eight sacks this year. He could make up to $1.25 million with 10 sacks and up to $2 million with 12 sacks.
“You strive for that 10 sacks, not six or eight,” Clayborn said. “Getting that 10 means way more than getting the money to me because then you go in the books as a defensive end in the National Football League that had a 10-sack season. Ten sacks has always been my goal. I was never healthy enough to get to it.”
Clayborn has 28.5 career sacks. His eight sacks this year are a single-season high. He had 7.5 sacks as a rookie in 2011.
