Mark Clayton retires: former Ravens 1st round pick calls it quits

[GrimCoconut]

We've had quite a few Ravens retire this year in Lewis, Birk, McClain, and now it looks like an ex-Raven is joining in on the fun.

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-former-baltimore-ravens-firstrounder-mark-clayton-retiring-20130515,0,1648936.story

 

He announced his retirement. Great guy, just not the player we drafted him to be, which is a shame. I always liked him as a guy. 

 

PS: Not sure if this belongs in RavensTalk or not. Feel free to move it if necessary. I figured since he was a Raven at one point & we drafted him, I would post it here.

[flynismo]

Aw, well good luck to my favorite whipping boy!

[BMORElegacy]

Cross his name off the list of possible vet WRs we might be looking in to.

Good luck in all your future endeavors Mark. It's a shame you were drafted when we didn't have a quarterback, and when we finally did get one we still had Cam Cameron calling the shots.

[Ravenseconbeast]

He didnt work hard enough 4 the Ravens

 

The brief time he was in Rams in his 1st year there, he was working it and so did his rise in production.   

[easternshore97]

Cross his name off the list of possible vet WRs we might be looking in to.

Good luck in all your future endeavors Mark. It's a shame you were drafted when we didn't have a quarterback, and when we finally did get one we still had Cam Cameron calling the shots.

Oh man. That's what you call a double whammy!!

[rmw10]

Clayton was always a class act here.  Unfortunately, his production never measures up to expectations.

[Guest Moderator 6]

Clayton's production never matched his work ethic.  He was extremely humble and classy and that is what I will remember him for.

[Gordo52]

Wish him the best!

[BALTIMOREFLACCO]

I played madden with him, he was a cool guy.

 

Good luck to him

[flynismo]

Clayton's production never matched his work ethic.  He was extremely humble and classy and that is what I will remember him for.

Yep, the guy was nothing but class on and off the field. I actually wouldn't have minded bringing him back as a #3, but I guess that isn't in the cards

[Bravens292]

Unlike a few our draft disappointments, I liked Mark. sad to see his career end but best of luck in the future.

[Yatagarasu]

I wonder what Oz saw in him to pick with our 1st round.

 

He wasn't big or fast like a WR#1. However, he could've panned out as a slot receiver like Victor Cruz.

[ROH522155]

I always liked and defended Mark. As inconsistent as he was, he could make some really great catches sometimes. And then drop one that hit him in the numbers...

[Token]

He looked like he could have been a very solid WR in St. Louis too, but injuries ruined that.

 

I wish him the best in his life.

 

I'll always remember this game from him. 

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAtqf5OGO4o[/youtube]

[Irish Raven]

Extremely classy guy, good luck to him in the future.

 

I've seen a few videos of him helping youths in Oklahoma, he'll achieve some good with whatever he turns to next

[mgridda]

Mark Clayton and the 2005 1st round was an interesting study for me, always. Mark was our guy. He was a red star player, high character, high work ethic, high class. Definitely a Ravens type guy that the Ravens would typically favor. We drafted him with the 22nd pick. Someone still on the board in that draft was

 

 

Roddy White. 

 

Roddy had all these issues, he wasn't polished, but the potential was there, he was one hell of an athlete. Also very physical and Ravenous in that sense. However, he had issues with drops. Thankfully for Matt Ryan, that got corrected in the next year.

[CapoRocky]

Mark Clayton and the 2005 1st round was an interesting study for me, always. Mark was our guy. He was a red star player, high character, high work ethic, high class. Definitely a Ravens type guy that the Ravens would typically favor. We drafted him with the 22nd pick. Someone still on the board in that draft was

 

 

Roddy White. 

 

Roddy had all these issues, he wasn't polished, but the potential was there, he was one hell of an athlete. Also very physical and Ravenous in that sense. However, he had issues with drops. Thankfully for Matt Ryan, that got corrected in the next year.

If we took Roddy White, then we might have gotten to the Super Bowl a few years earlier.

[CARavensFan]

He looked like he could have been a very solid WR in St. Louis too, but injuries ruined that.

 

I wish him the best in his life.

 

I'll always remember this game from him. 

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAtqf5OGO4o[/youtube]

 

I remember that game, it makes me laugh that the guy Mark was roasting for most of the day was Leon Hall, now the Bengals "Ace" CB lol

 

Still he had flashes like that all the time, I really wish he would have still be around when Cam left to see what he could have donw in an offense that fit the system to the players rather than one that tried to force the players into the system.

[cushrinada1986]

CapoRocky, on 16 May 2013 - 06:36 AM, said:
If we took Roddy White, then we might have gotten to the Super Bowl a few years earlier.

I have to admit, the idea of Rowdy Roddy White on one side, and Torrey Smith on the other sounds like an awesome combination but at that time the only thing we had going on was a running game and D. The Billick was literally sinking his coaching career believing that Boller was going to become a star signal caller and the receivers at that time were either unpolished, slow, or too much over the age of 30. If the Ravens had the type of WR corps we have now with Mark as the slot, trust me, the ravens would have at least three rings total. I say this due to the fact that the pats, colts, and steelers at the time were the main competition in the division and with our defense, we never really got blown out by those teams, despite our bad offense. You take the Offense of 2012 and add that to the defense we had in 2004 going forward, Ray and the boys would have walked away with a potential repeat SB win(2011 and 2012) and possibly 2008 also.

[SecretAgentMan]

Mark Clayton and the 2005 1st round was an interesting study for me, always. Mark was our guy. He was a red star player, high character, high work ethic, high class. Definitely a Ravens type guy that the Ravens would typically favor. We drafted him with the 22nd pick. Someone still on the board in that draft was


Roddy White.

Roddy had all these issues, he wasn't polished, but the potential was there, he was one hell of an athlete. Also very physical and Ravenous in that sense. However, he had issues with drops. Thankfully for Matt Ryan, that got corrected in the next year.

Forget him. Aaron Rodgers was on the board when we took Clayton. We could have a dynasty now lol

We could've also had Vincet Jackson, and to fill our DE needs, Trent Cole...

One of Ozzies bad drafts

[cushrinada1986]

I remember that game, it makes me laugh that the guy Mark was roasting for most of the day was Leon Hall, now the Bengals "Ace" CB lol
 
Still he had flashes like that all the time, I really wish he would have still be around when Cam left to see what he could have donw in an offense that fit the system to the players rather than one that tried to force the players into the system.

If only we had burners like Torrey and Jacoby back then, Mason and Mark would have been consistent probowlers in the slot position. On the inside, not many corners could stop Mason or Mark, sad they didnt get to be apart of this new offense. DAMN YOU CAM!!!

[GrimCoconut]

Forget him. Aaron Rodgers was on the board when we took Clayton. We could have a dynasty now lol

He had time to learn behind Favre. There's no telling how much impact Favre had on Rodgers. Rodgers might not have been the same quarterback. Obviously talent is talent. Still, he might not have been the same player. It took Rodgers some time to get to where he is now.

[SecretAgentMan]

He had time to learn behind Favre. There's no telling how much impact Favre had on Rodgers. Rodgers might not have been the same quarterback. Obviously talent is talent. Still, he might not have been the same player. It took Rodgers some time to get to where he is now.

Well, he could've learned "what not to do" from Boller ;)

[wademan2636]

did anyone else realize that clayton's best year came when McNair was our starting QB?  Even though McNair had a history with mason, he threw to clayton an equal amount.  

 

The only reason Clayton struggled was because of Boller and Cam.  Sure, he wasn't a true #1 receiver, but when a good QB and good O-Coordinator come together, a guy like clayton can thrive.  He was just in the wrong situations to help him thrive.  If McNair saw enough in him to make him equal to mason, just imagine what he would be capable of in a better situation.

 

He was an outstanding citizen and a hard worker, and I hope that he succeeds throughout the rest of his life

[AsianRice]

Mark Clayton is only 30 years old and he has at least 4 years left in him.  He had couple injuries which was probably one of the reasons he wants to quit.

 

If he comes back to us, I think Joe/Caldwell will maximize his abilities, but it is too late and we have too many young hungry WR who wants to take the spotlight.

 

Good luck, Mark.......

[Ed_Reed20]

Hope he finds success in retirement. 

 

One thing that has bothered me for some time is the perception that he was drop-prone. I just did some research and according to Sporting Charts, in his five years as a Raven, he dropped 12 regular season passes on 444 targets.

 

Here's a yearly breakdown:

 

2005: 86 targets - 3 drops

2006: 112 targets - 4 drops

2007: 89 targets - 2 drops

2008: 83 targets - 1 drop

2009: 74 targets - 2 drops

 

Just for comparisons sake, Mase dropped 25 passes on 679 targets during the same period. He dropped three passes on 100 targets in '10. Boldin dropped 13 regular season passes on 345 passes in his three years in purple.

[mgridda]

Brilliant. For all the talk of Boldin's hands, he has more drops than Clayton in less targets.

[JoeyFlex5]

If we took Roddy White, then we might have gotten to the Super Bowl a few years earlier.

but our problem 3 years straight was dropped balls in the playoffs...