A leader all the time -- Park's Johnny Clay is more than just a standout football player
By Pete Jackel
Merely existing in the cruel, insecure world so many kids have known, the developmentally challenged boy's eyes welled up in tears as he was pelted with hurtful words interspersed with spitballs from some bullies that day.
It was some time during the winter of 2001-02 in a corridor at McKinley Middle School and Johnny Clay had seen enough. Approaching the scene, the seventh grader took the boy under his coat, walked him to his classroom and returned to set straight the bullies.
The impact of this story would be diminished significantly, of course, had Clay himself been the source. Instead, it has made the rounds during the past few years, enhancing the remarkable character of a 17-year-old kid who just might be the most talented high school football player in
Wisconsin.
In 2004, he became the first primarily offensive player in Wisconsin ever to earn first-team Associated Press All-State honors as a sophomore. This fall, he has been the focal point on a Park High School football team, coming off a 3-6 record, that is 12-1 and will play in the WIAA Division 1 state championship game against Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln at 4 p.m. today at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
He has rushed for nearly 1,800 yards and 27 touchdowns this season despite missing nearly three full games with an ankle injury and usually sitting out the second halves of games because of Park's lopsided victories.
At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, he has roughly the same size as his hero, Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, who retired 22 years before Clay was born. He has sprinter's speed. He has decent grades and no unsavory baggage. Major-college programs are inundating him with letters.
And he is a candidate to become only the second player from Racine County to be named the AP Player of the Year in football. Kevin Barry, a fourth-year offensive tackle with the Green Bay Packers, was the first in 1996.
But as impressive as Clay is as an athlete, what may stand out even more is his character. Through the hands-on upbringing of his parents, John and Sara, Johnny Clay has been raised in a home in which proper priorities are stressed, a spiritual faith is promoted, respect and accountability are expected and common household chores are demanded.
As gifted as he is as a running back - and this is a young man who averages 12 yards every time he touches the ball - Clay has been taught to recognize how transient sports is. In other words, you're probably a heck of a lot more impressed with him than he is.
"John knows that he's been blessed with a talent and, being blessed with it, it can be taken away just as well as it has been given to you," Sara Clay said. "And he realizes that."
And that brings us back to the story of when Clay intervened when an innocent boy was being harassed. Tell us, Johnny, what exactly happened that day? "People were messing with him and he was in special ed, so he didn't know how to protect himself," Clay said. "I told them to leave him alone and that, `You wouldn't want anyone treating you like that.' They backed off and left him alone."
That's what John Harold Clay is all about.
"He is quietly assertive," said Elizabeth Baugher, an English teacher at Park. "He just looks at people and they do it. He just has this inner authority that everyone knows he has if they're even near him.
"He doesn't cause problems in class and he's definitely a leader in class. Just to give you an example, I teach literature and we do extra things as sidelines. One of the first things we're doing for the unit we're in, which happens to be The Age of Reason, is they're having to memorize some quotes and then they're actually getting into a group and doing a dance, a minuet.
"And John willingly volunteered to be the one to show everybody how to do the minuet with me. He was willing to get up in front of the class and the class totally turned once he got up there.
"He's quiet, but he's extremely powerful through his quiet demeanor."
This is nothing new with Clay. Diane Brooks, a physical education teacher at McKinley, noticed those same characteristics three years ago.
"He's the kind of kid where, if you want your class to do something, if you get John aside and say, `Hey, John, will you help me out?,' he'll always give you a nod yes," Brooks said. "He's a natural leader and the kids will follow him. The kids respect John. And he's got great parents who are involved in his academics and his life."
The elder John Clay, a 1966 Horlick graduate and a Vietnam War veteran, married the former Sara Hamilton in 1980, the same year she graduated from Case.
Following daughters Ieshia, now 23, and Amelia, 18, the Clays became the parents of Johnny on Jan. 4, 1988. It was the same year the high school for which he now plays football won the WIAA Division 1 state championship.
So hands-on were the Clays with Johnny that Sara decided to hold him back from the second grade at Fratt Elementary School because she wasn't satisfied with his academic progress.
"That was my decision," Sara Clay said.
Rumors have been circulating that Clay will be ineligible for his senior season at Park because he will turn 19 during the 2006-07 school year. WIAA guidelines stipulate that athletes are only ineligible for competition if they turn 19 before Aug. 1 of a given school year.
As he grew up in a blue frame house on 2002 12th St., directly across the street from Park High School, values were constantly instilled in Johnny. From cleaning up after family dogs Samson and Bullet to washing dishes to attending services at Word of Faith Family Church, much has been expected of Clay.
"I told him, `You've got to set your goals and follow them,' " the elder John Clay said. "And so far, he's been pretty good."
Sometimes, dirty dishes would still be in the sink when John Sr., who works with handicapped students at Park, and Sara, a registered nurse at Ridgewood Health Care Center, returned home.
Sometimes, Johnny underachieved in the classroom, bringing home B's and C's even though his parents considered him to be a more capable student.
"I'd say he's average," Sara Clay said. "Can he be above average? Yes."
As far as trouble, though, Clay is about as clean as they come. By the way, what was the worst trouble he ever got himself into? "About the worst thing he's done is drive a car into the house, accidentally," Sara Clay said. "He thought he stepped on the brake and inadvertently stepped on
the gas."
How would the elder John Clay answer that question? "One time, I kept feeling a lot of cold air in the house," he said. "I was thinking, `Where is this cold air coming from?' I kept looking around and then I went into his room. And lo and behold, one of the windows in his room was broke.
"He had stuffed towels and stuff in there to patch it up. I said, `How did this get broken?' And he said, `Oh, I was flipping the football and it bounced and hit the window."
So harmless from a kid so genuine. So genuine that he once called his grandmother, Lisa Clay, during a fierce storm to pray with her and comfort her. So genuine that when a young fan approached him for an autograph following Park's playoff game against Mukwonago Nov. 4, he responded by giving the boy one of his game gloves. And so genuine that he constantly singles out the blocking of his offensive line after a productive game.
"My mom told me I have an impact on a lot of little kids," Johnny Clay said. "I try to do positive things and set good examples for little kids."
