Clark signs 'futures contract' to play TE with Chicago Bears
By: Paul Coro
With NFL telecasts having players introduce themselves for starting lineups, there could come a day when one tight end says "Darion Clark, Grand Canyon University" and the football world would pause.
GCU has its first NFL player … without having a football program.
Clark, who finished his college basketball career at GCU three years ago, signed an NFL "futures contract" with the Chicago Bears on Monday, completing an improbable journey from Georgia high school quarterback to college basketball power forward to 6-foot-7, 235-pound NFL
      Darion Clark
tight end.
"Even when I was playing college basketball, I had a lot of nights when I would have vivid dreams of playing football," Clark said. "It got to a point where I had an opportunity to play football and I started chasing it."
There were still extremely long odds for Clark to go from having shoulder surgery after the 2016-17 Lopes basketball season to being turned down by every team in the XFL Draft last year to heading for the Bears' organized team activities (OTAs) in April as part of the team's 90-man camp roster.
"I was so down about it when I didn't get picked up by the XFL," Clark said. "It was like if they aren't going to take you, what makes you think the NFL is going to give you a chance? You have to keep going sometimes because you never know what's around the corner."
The trek began once Clark finished his GCU season as a graduate transfer from USC. He averaged 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds while starting for a 22-9 Lopes team in 2016-17 but was limited to 20 games because of a shoulder injury. He initially considered walking on to USC football for that final college year but the same shoulder injury was going to limit him to a half-football season so he pursued the graduate transfer to GCU.
The idea of playing football was always there for Clark, especially with constant inquiries because of his build and his longer background in football. He has played football since he was 6 but picked up basketball for the first time in seventh grade.
USC football head coach Clay Helton was among the ones who noticed him on campus and projected that he could make the switch from undersized power forward to big tight end, especially with the reliable hands and nifty footwork that basketball had developed. Once Clark finished his six-month shoulder surgery rehabilitation in January 2018, he committed to pursuing a football career to pull off what NFL Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates did after a college basketball career.
The USC staff helped him prepare and invited him to participate in its "Pro Day," a combine for ex-Trojans football players to work out in front of NFL scouts. He caught with quarterback Sam Darnold at that March 2018 workout but admittedly was not ready because of how early he was in his transition process.
"I'm a natural football player," said Clark, who played quarterback as a Rockdale County High School junior in Conyers, Georgia, before transferring to prep basketball power Oak Hill Academy. "I picked up a football before I ever picked up a basketball. I knew my abilities. I knew I could do it. I just needed the opportunity where people could see me. The Pro Day was a measuring stick to see what I needed to work on. I knew it would take time."
Clark attended the New York Jets minicamp in April 2018 and then returned to working with USC-to-NFL receivers such as Philadelphia's Nelson Agholor and Houston's Isaac Whitney, along with Trojans coaches. A year later in April 2019, he played in a three-week league in Austin, Texas, with every pro team scouting the invited participants and noticing his improvement.
It did not create an XFL bite but it led to another chance In November, when he was invited to a two-day workout in Whittier, California. Clark caught the eyes of Bears scouts, who invited him to a December workout in Chicago. He performed well enough to be offered a contact that projects to put him on the team through at least training camp, when rosters are cut from 90 to 53 for the season.
"It's been a journey," Clark said. "I've been keeping it under wraps because I knew there would probably be a lots of ups and downs to it but I finally got to the point where I have an opportunity. The XFL thing was really tough on me. But a month later, I had a bigger and better opportunity. Through this process, I've learned a lot about myself. I knew the opportunity would come. I just didn't know how or when. Thank God it came."
