EDITORIAL — Colin Clark passed away five years ago from a heart attack. He was 35 years old. Clark played in Major League Soccer from 2006 to 2013. Four and a half of the eight years were spent with the Colorado Rapids. On the fifth anniversary of Colin’s death, Burgundy Wave reflects on the player and the person he was, with a little help from those closest to him.

 

The Fort Collins native joined the Rapids’ PDL reserve team in 2005. This came after two seasons of college soccer at Southern Methodist University. Clark grew raised on the Front Range and played for the Colorado Rush. He made his debut with the first squad in 2006 and began to play regularly in 2007. He became well-known for his work ethic, teamwork, and distribution as a left midfielder. He was popular among those who played with him.

On the final day of the secondary transfer window in 2010, Clark was traded to the Houston Dynamo. Colorado gained experienced midfielder Brian Mullan and a draft pick (later named Stéfano Pinho, who never played for the club). Gary Smith, the head coach, was aiming to obtain players that were little more tactically appropriate. He also valued experience. Clark was 26 at the time. Mullan was 32 and had played in MLS for nearly a decade.

Colorado went on to win the MLS Cup that year sans Clark. He stayed with El Naranja for two years and change. Notably, he scored the game-winning penalty against RSL in September 2012. Houston would reach the MLS Cup Finals in 2011 and 2012. Clark was a 78th-minute substitute in 2011 and did not make the matchday squad the following year. Houston would lose both games to the LA Galaxy.

 

He played his final season with the LA Galaxy in 2013, after being selected in the Re-entry Draft. At the time, it was unclear whether his heart concerns were known or had a role in his retirement choice. He was 29 at the time. He went on to play amateur soccer in Colorado and eventually became a local coach.

His career high may have been in the first half of 2009, when he scored three goals and assisted five times in 16 starts. He performed so well that he made the Gold Cup roster. His only senior USMNT appearance came in the last group stage game, a 2-2 draw against Haiti. Clark tore his ACL in August of that year. He missed the rest

The season. The injury may have impacted his career potential.

Clark was imperfect. He was caught shouting a homophobic slur against a ballboy during a Seattle Sounders game in March 2012. It was one of the most contentious MLS issues of the year. He received a three-game suspension, a fine, and required diversity and sensitivity training. In the aftermath, Clark was regretful:

Burgundy Wave shared Colin’s story with former Rapids teammates and staff. There are countless stories that demonstrate the type of player and person he was.

Jamie Smith joined the team midseason in 2009 and provided direct competition on the wing.

“Colin I remember him fondly because, although competing for the same spot on the squad, he was one of the first guys to come out to me and be so friendly to me as a person. That was a difficult pill to accept, because Colin was a healthy guy, a wonderful person, and an obviously gifted soccer player. I remembered having a sleepover at his apartment one night when we went out. It was an off weekend. We had some dinner and a couple of drinks and came back to his apartment. And I slept over.” Marvell Wynne played with Colin and later had his career cut short due to an aortic aneurysm. “I think the first week I was there, all the guys wanted me to go out with them to Larimer Square and met his girlfriend, who became his wife. He had a locker next to me and it was a cool guy. “When it comes to heart health, you look and feel a certain way, but you never really know what’s going on internally. Try to get checked up. Go to the doctor and see what’s going on. It doesn’t matter how you might feel one day to another. For me, there was nothing. I was playing at the highest level. It can just kind of spring up on you. Do everything you can to remain healthy. Take care of yourself.” Jeff Plush was the Managing Director at the club for Colin’s entire time as a Rapids player. He remembers trading him for Brian Mullan being a tough decision. “Just a great young man. Shifty and could run. Tried to get aggressive in the final third. I’ll never forget, (Paul) Bravo sent me a text: ‘Have you heard about Colin?’ I hadn’t heard anything. It was devastating. And it was great to go to the event at the stadium. He was obviously very loved. It was very, very hard to trade Colin. He’s the type of person you want in your organization you want to build through. But we needed that balance. Mullan brought us balance. He brought us a championship pedigree. And so you had to give talent to get talent. And so it was a deal that was hard to make on a personal level.” Omar Cummings was an MLS SuperDraft pick in 2007. He would break into the first team after Clark and go on to be one of the best strikers in club history. He and Conor Casey were central to the team’s success in 2010.

“I don’t think there is enough to say. I definitely miss him. Colin led the way for myself and other guys that came in my rookie year. He was one of the first guys to break through the Cobras (the internal nickname for the Rapids Reserves) into the first team. He led the way for us (me and Kosuke Kimura). He was the standard.”

Goalkeeper Matt Pickens and captain Pablo Mastroeni remembered him for his work ethic on the field and family values off.

“I just feel for his family and his kid. Just a good player. Really good left foot. And he actually worked at it. (Assistant Coach) Steve (Guppy) used to work with Colin. He would do two day sessions with them, which is a rarity to see. A starting player isn’t going to go out in the afternoon, do a second session with a coach,” Pickens told Burgundy Wave

“It rewarded Colin because he got called on the national team and then got his cap. That’s a testament to Colin actually putting in the work and being a little bit more serious about his work, to help him propel his career. That’s something that I admire about Colin. He didn’t shy away from the actual work.”

Mastroeni saw things come full circle for Colin, on the field through Steve Guppy and off the field through becoming a father:

“He was a player that was enamored with Ryan Giggs. He would spend countless hours alone working on his moved, his crossing. When Steven Guppy came along with Gary smith, they would spend a half hour every day just working on his ability to cross. Guppy was a huge mentor to Colin Clark. Guppy had played in the Premier Leauge and played against Ryan Giggs. That made Colin the player he was.

 

“Off the field, one of the things that stands out for me with Coln is the amount of love that he had for his family. When I had the opportunity to go to LA in the later part of 2013, Colin had been in LA. I remember countless times we’d want to get together. He’d say, ‘Why don’t you come over? Let’s go golfing. I got my son. Let’s see if we can bring him along.’ I met Colin when he was just a kid out of college and then seeing him grow into a man who realized the more important things in life. He’d not only talk about it, but lived it.”

Rest in peace, Colin. For more information on heart health, visit CDPHE and the American Heart Association.