On and off the field, Nate Clements is always a pro.

When suited up for the 49ers he is one of the top cornerbacks in the league, and away from the gridiron Clements spends countless hours helping the community around him.

But as he said Tuesday, “the kids are our future,” and Clements wants them to Go Pro in their lives too.

So, Clements spent the day at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara promoting his new community initiative, Go Pro. Go Pro is dedicated to empowering young people to Go Pro in life through education, exposure and athletics.

“Every child has a dream to go pro when they’re growing up,” Clements said. “Whether it is an aspiration to move in the career path of their role model, or be like their favorite athlete, they all have dreams. My vision for Go Pro is to help those youth achieve their goals by providing a solid foundation through education, exposure and athletics.”

As the program evolves, Clements will provide youth with a Go Pro Playbook, which will be a guide toward reaching their goals. It will provide an academic checklist, daily physical exercises as a resource guide to help students gain opportunities to earn scholarships, internships, do community service and find mentors. Clements will enlist the support of Go Pro coaches and advisors within the cities where he will launch Go Pro as resources for the students. Clements is also looking for corporations and community organizations to partner with him on this initiative to further provide today’s youth with the tools they need to be successful in life.

The goal of Go Pro is to pique the curiosity and the commitment of the next generation of all-pro youth leaders.

At the Go Pro launch, Clements spoke to a class of sixth graders about setting life goals and working hard to achieve them. He talked to them about striving for greatness and how they should never be satisfied.

While Clements did have an inner drive as a kid, it was his father who pushed him to be his best.

“When I was in high school, my dad would always say, ‘If you work hard for four years you can go to any college you want,’” Clements said. “Then when I was in college he said, ‘If you work hard for four more years you can play for any NFL team you want.’”

Clements listened to his father and is today one of the top cornerbacks in the league.

The Pro Bowler remembers getting to high school at 5:30 a.m. so that he could lift weights and study in the library before school began. Then after school and football practice, he would go to an SAT preparation course to help him get into college.

While it was tough, Clements realizes now how valuable all that hard work was. He knows why his family put such an importance on education.

“Football was the easy part for me back then,” Clements said, “but school is where I really needed to put in the work. I put in a lot of effort to my studies and it really paid off in the long run.

“If I could do it again, I would do it the same way.”

Weeks before Clements spoke to the sixth-grade class, the students wrote an essay about their dream job. Tuesday afternoon the students came dressed for their future profession and Clements couldn’t hold back his smile when he saw the design engineers, artists, astronauts, athletes and doctors enter the room.

“You guys can have these jobs if you work hard and don’t get distracted,” Clements told the students.

After the youth listened to Clements, four students who wrote the best essays shared them with Clements and their peers.

“The students, teacher, principal and everyone else around had a fantastic time today,” said Julianne Topliff, educational partnerships for the Santa Clara Unified School District. “This is an experience that these students will be able to hold onto and remember as they ‘Go Pro’ in their lives.”

Throughout the day Clements gave the students lots of advice, but one thing he said drove him more than anything were the doubters. He told the youth that there will be people who tell you you won’t succeed, but, he said, you have to work twice as hard to prove those doubters wrong.

“Don’t let someone else’s opinion become your reality.”

Another strong performance from Nate against the Seahawks, Nate finished the day with 6 tackles and some nice passes defended. The game was over when Nate broke up a pass intended for Seahawks WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the end zone on fourth-and-10 with only 2:17 to play. San Francisco took over on downs and melted away the majority of the clock, giving Seattle the ball back with only 23 seconds remaining.

Frank Gore kept an eye on the scoreboard as he ran like mad, making sure nobody caught him on the way to the end zone.

And it wasn’t even close.

“Yeah, I was looking up there,” Gore said with a grin of his regular practice. “I ran all day.”

Gore’s spectacular afternoon single-handedly re-established the run game for San Francisco.

Gore had touchdown runs of 79 and a career-best 80 yards and finished with 207 yards on 16 carries, and the 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 23-10 to take an early hold atop the NFC West standings.

“I told myself, ‘I’m not looking back,”‘ Gore said. “I told myself: ‘Hey, if they’re going to catch me, they’re going to catch me. I’m just going to look straight ahead.”‘

Gore, who surpassed San Francisco’s Week 1 rushing total of 21 yards in the first series, nearly reached his franchise mark of 212 yards set in 2006 before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle that wasn’t considered serious. He became only the second player in NFL history to have two TD runs of 79 or more yards in the same game, joining Barry Sanders. Sanders had runs of 80 and 82 yards at Tampa Bay on Oct. 12, 1997.

“Hey, I’m happy. I didn’t know that,” Gore said. “We’re 2-0 in our division. We proved to a lot of people we’re getting better and better.”

Seattle (1-1), coming off a 28-0 season-opening win at St. Louis, took a big blow losing quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to a rib injury just before halftime following a hard hit near the goal line by Patrick Willis. Hasselbeck didn’t return after completing 10 of 18 passes for 97 yards and no touchdowns.

He was taken to a hospital for X-rays and a CT scan. X-rays were negative while the CT scan was inconclusive and Hasselbeck rejoined his teammates for the 2-hour flight home.

“It is a rib bruise at this point,” coach Jim Mora said. “He’s doing much better … he’s feeling much more comfortable. We believe at this point, and it’s very preliminary, that he’s going to be OK.”

Gore also posted just the third 200-yard rushing game in team history. Charlie Garner ran for 201 yards at Dallas on Sept. 24, 2000. Gore had his 212-yard day Nov. 19, 2006, also at Candlestick Park against Seattle. His 246 total yards from scrimmage Sunday were a career high, topping the 238 he had in that ‘06 game with the Seahawks.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that,” quarterback Shaun Hill said. “He was moving.”

Joe Nedney kicked field goals of 37, 42 and 39 yards for the 49ers. Coach Mike Singletary’s team is off to a 2-0 start after he demanded that his players perform better this week and find their identity as a running team. San Francisco won at defending NFC champion Arizona in Week 1.

The 49ers’ defense was dominant again this week, handing former 49ers defensive coordinator Mora his first loss since taking over this season for Mike Holmgren.

“For us it’s too early to tell anything,” Singletary said. “Last week was ugly, but I loved it. This week was ugly, but I loved it.”

What a difference from Singletary’s debut at Candlestick Park last October, when he took over for the fired Mike Nolan. San Francisco lost to the Seahawks in a game in which he benched quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan in favor of Hill, pulled his pants down at halftime to make a point and sent volatile tight end Vernon Davis to the showers early after a personal foul penalty.

This time, Hill was 19 for 26 for 144 yards with no TDs or interceptions and was sacked four times. He improved to 6-0 as a starter at Candlestick and 9-3 overall as an NFL starter. His job was easy: give the ball to Gore.

Gore, who had just 30 yards on 22 carries in the win over the Cardinals, had averaged 76 yards against Seattle in the previous four meetings since his Pro Bowl 2006 season. He ran for 144 yards in the other ‘06 game versus Seattle.

“It was just a matter of Frank Gore being Frank Gore,” Seahawks rookie linebacker Aaron Curry said. “It’s just as simple as that. They gave the right man the ball. He’s one of those guys, he’s going to have your attention. It’s not hard to find him. He runs hard. You can sometimes hear him grunt as he runs.”

Hasselbeck went down for several minutes after getting hurt trying to dive for the end zone 26 seconds before halftime. He was stopped at the 1-yard line.

Backup QB Seneca Wallace came in on the next play and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Julius Jones to pull Seattle within 13-10. Wallace wound up 15 for 27 for 127 yards and a TD.

Ray McDonald had his second sack in as many games, dropping Hasselbeck for a 7-yard loss as the Seahawks went three-and-out in their opening series.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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twitter.com/nateclements

Former Bills Nate Clements and Takeo Spikes both enjoyed a happy homecoming Sunday as the current 49ers made significant defensive contributions in San Francisco’s surprising 10-3 win at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Left cornerback Clements and inside linebacker Spikes combined for 15 tackles and a forced fumble as the 49ers kept the Bills out of the end zone.

“Like a college atmosphere is the best way to describe it,” Clements said of Buffalo. “You can’t beat that. The victory was emotional because I played here.”

Clements was a first-round draft pick of the Bills in 2001. He spent the first six years of his career there before signing with the 49ers in 2007. Spikes, an 11-year veteran, was with the Bills from 2003-06.

“I miss the environment,” Spikes said. “I truly miss the environment. … It’s big, to come in an environment like this and win a game the way we did. This is a potential playoff team. This really shows our true character.”

Clements was booed by Bills fans when he prepared to field a punt in the first quarter. He had one return for 3 yards, subbing for the injured Allen Rossum.

“I did hear that,” Clements said. “I felt it’s by default because I’m the opponent. But deep down they love me.”

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Nate Clements, the 49ers’ top cornerback, is taking a pragmatic approach to coping with a forgettable game.

He has forgotten about it.

Clements is coming off his worst performance in two seasons with the 49ers. He surrendered a good portion of Terrell Owens’ 213 receiving yards on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.

“Last week’s game?” Clements asked, as if the memory has already been wiped blank. “I’m focused on moving forward. As a corner, you have to look at it as water off a duck’s back — let it just roll right off you. You have to get ready for next week.”

Clements will return to the place he called home through his first six NFL seasons, as the 49ers travel to face the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y. The 49ers last played a game at Buffalo in 1998.

“I knew we were playing them. I wouldn’t say I circled it (on the schedule),” Clements said. “It’s not like I have a vendetta. The city and the organization treated me fairly. Now, I’m definitely anxious to go back. I just want to win the game.”

The 49ers inquired about a possible trade for Clements at the 2006 trade deadline. However, the Bills did not give the 49ers permission to speak with his agent about a contract extension.

When Clements became a free agent the following March, the 49ers wasted no time in signing him to an eight-year, $80 million deal. Because the final year of the contract automatically voided after one season, Clements’ deal is now scheduled to pay him a total of $64 million over seven seasons through 2013.

Clements has given the 49ers pretty much what they expected when they signed him. He’s been a reliable cornerback who works hard and shows up to play every Sunday. However, he experienced his share of struggles on Sunday.

The 49ers put Clements on Owens for much of the game. Owens had seven catches for 213 yards and a touchdown. (In fairness, Owens made a 52-yard reception on a play in which cornerback Donald Strickland and safety Mark Roman were to blame.)

Niners interim coach Mike Singletary said his confidence in Clements has not wavered. He said he would not hesitate to place Clements in single coverage against the opponent’s top threat, which this week would be Bills wideout Lee Evans.

“It wasn’t a mismatch,” Singletary said. “I think Nate Clements can cover T.O. If we just said, ‘Nate Clements, go over there and get on the line of scrimmage and do not let him off the line of scrimmage,’ I would say nine out of 10 times, Nate Clements would go over there and do that.

“(But) that’s not the way we play defense. That’s not the way we played it because they (the Cowboys) have so many other guys that can hurt you.”

Although Clements did not have a particularly enjoyable game against the Cowboys, he did manage to display one of his best attributes. He is a physical cornerback who is willing to stick his nose into the action.

Clements’ role in run support has been one of his best features since coming to the 49ers. He was instrumental last season in holding Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson to 3 yards on 14 carries.

Clements delivered some bone-jarring hits Sunday to help take out some of his frustrations against the Cowboys.

He broke up a corner route to tight end Jason Witten when he knocked the wind out of Witten just as he got his hands on the ball. He also upended running back Marion Barber on a running play, and leveled rookie Orlando Scandrick when Clements let a ball go over his head after lining up deep on a punt return.

“I like to think I was known as somebody that could tackle forcefully before that game,” Clements said. “I think I’ve done that my whole career. I just play hard. I don’t try to force anything, and I just go out and play hard.”

Source: Matt Maiocco

I knew we were going to be playing my old team this year, so I’m very anxious to get back to my old stomping ground. I keep in touch with a few of the guys, from when I was there, especially the db’s. I even call the trainers there once in awhile and see how they’re doing.

The foundation of my professional career started in Buffalo, and it was an excellent opportunity for me. It might have been one of the best things that happened to me in my career, in terms of starting off with a great organization with a lot of tradition. The fans there were very supportive and the atmosphere is like a collegiate atmosphere. They’re die-hard fans when it comes to football.

So, like I said, I’m looking forward to going back and playing them.

Trent Edwards has a lot of intangibles that you want in a quarterback. In my opinion, he’s very athletic, and has a strong arm. For the first five or six games, they were on a nice run and his confidence was on a high and he was playing like that. Then he struggled a bit, but had a great game last week. I think he’s one of those guys, if he gains a lot of confidence, he can make a lot of throws.

Most of his throws go to Lee Evans. He’s definitely a deep threat, can run, able to stretch defenses. He’s one of those guys who has to be accounted for. He has good hands and can run good routes. I think he’s more experienced now and really knows how to get open, and knows how to read defenses on the run. As far as production, he makes plays, big plays at that.
Roscoe Parrish in my opinion, he’s the quickest receiver in the NFL. He’s explosive as well and is a game-breaker. I think anytime he gets the ball in his hands, you have to tackle him. If not, he can definitely make moves and has the speed to take it the distance.

Josh Reed is a tough receiver. He’s not afraid to go across the middle, knowing that he might take a lick. I think he has very good hands. He might not have the speed of Evans or Parish, but I think he’s their possession-type guy, who is a go-to guy. I think he’s sure-handed.

Steve Johnson is the rookie from Kentucky I believe. From what I’ve seen and heard, he has real good hands. I think they utilize him in the slot as well. I think he’s one of those young receivers who has been productive when he’s in there. That’s the reason why he’s getting more time.

James Hardy is a big receiver who can really use his height and is vertical to go up and get a jump ball. He’s a former basketball player, so I think he’s one of those guys, who knows how to go get the ball.

At tight end, I think Trent has a lot of confidence and has a good on-field relationship with Robert Royal. He’s a bit banged up right now, so I don’t know if he’ll play but I think he’s a good all-around tight end and probably their best tight end in the passing attack. He blocks well in the run game and although he doesn’t have the speed of a Vernon Davis to pose a threat vertically, Trent is confident in him and will look for him, and he’s shown he has good hands.
Marshawn Lynch likes to call himself the beast, because he is. From looking at film, he’s definitely a special player. He’s the engine that makes them go. I think their offense is set up through him, as far as their run game, which sets up the play-action. We know he’s their workhorse and when he gets the ball, he doesn’t go down with one tackle, so we have to gang tackle him.

Fred Jackson is a very good number two back. In some cases he might even be a starter. I don’t think he’s a slouch. He’s shown when he comes in for Marshawn, that he’s able to make plays and be productive. In the run game, he can run in between the tackles and they’ll also use him in the passing game on check downs. He has very good hands and he can make plays for them.

They’ve got some big guys on their offensive line. I think Jason Peters is one of the best left tackles in the league. I was there when he was drafted as a tight end, and he’s made a smooth transition to tackle. He already had good feet when he played tight end and he could run, and I think that helped him make the switch. I think he’s athletic, strong and I think he’s the best tackle in the league.

With Allen Rossum out for this game, I’ll be sure to be prepared to return punts. Like I said before, I believe I can make plays when the ball is in my hands, so I look forward to more opportunities this Sunday. The weather is probably going to be bad, but I’m used to that. I played in that growing up and for most of my career, and when it got colder and snow started to come, it was actually fun to me. You do have to concentrate and really focus on catching the ball in inclement weather, but like I said, I’ve done it before so I’m confident.

And most of all, I’m excited for the opportunity to get back on the field and help this team get a W.

Source: 49ers.com

Cornerback Nate Clements will square off against his former Buffalo team for the first time since signing on as a free agent with the 49ers in 2007.

“I knew we were going to be playing them, so I’m very anxious to get back to my old stomping ground,” said Clements.

While Clements looks forward to returning to familiar ground, he’s ready to put last week’s rough performance in Dallas behind him.

“As a corner you have to… As my coach would say, ‘Water off a duck, just rolls right off you.’ I just have to get ready for next week and I’m anxious.”

Clements looks to also get some work as the team’s punt returner as Allen Rossum has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game.

“I prepare myself every week to be put in that position, in case anything happens I’m ready.”

The wet weather shouldn’t give Clements too many problems, since he handled punt responsibilities at the start of his career in Buffalo.

“Concentration,” said Clements when asked what is needed under adverse weather conditions. “I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as I’ve seen it before. But, definitely you have to concentrate and focus on catching the ball.”

Source: 49ers Official Blog

Clements Honored as National Neighborhood MVP at Local Playground Build; Rossum Adds to Build with Surprise Backpack Giveaway

On Tuesday, November 11, Nate Clements, cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers was honored as a National Neighborhood MVP from the NFL. Clements, after returning less than ten hours earlier from his Monday Night Football game in Arizona, along with Sourdough Sam and members of the local community joined forces to build an entire playground for Peabody Elementary School in the Richmond District of San Francisco.

“It was definitely an honor to be named a NFL Neighborhood MVP. It was all for a good cause, we all volunteered for a common goal to reward the kids at the school by putting up a new playground and giving them a better learning environment.”

For being chosen a NFL Neighborhood MVP, Clements was given a $1,000 check from NFL National Neighborhood MVP Program to go towards a charity of his choice. Clements chose the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as Leukemia is a soft spot in his heart.

“This foundation hits close to home because I have an aunt who is diagnosed with Leukemia, she’s been battling with that for a few years now,” said Clements. “So it hit close to home, that’s why I decided to give all the donations and proceeds to that foundation.”

The elementary school was also in for another visit when San Francisco 49ers returner Allen Rossum gave a surprise appearance in the afternoon during the playground build to not only assist with the final touches of the playground but to also deliver backpacks and school supplies for the 30+ elementary school students at the build at Peabody Elementary School.

Rossum’s backpack giveaway is a part of a larger effort from Rossum’s foundation, Healthy Kids Klub. Rossum heard about Nate’s opportunity to help the elementary school and with his previous experience of contributing to over five playground builds throughout the country, Rossum wanted to donate his time during his off day as well.

“Today, I came out here to build the playground and there was an opportunity as well to give the backpacks away to the kids and help them with school supplies,” said Rossum. “Any time you have the opportunity to come into a community and help out, especially the community you play in, I think it’s our obligation to do that.”

The playground build is part of The NFL Neighborhood MVP program that recognizes and celebrates NFL players for their commitment to giving back to their local communities. Clements was one of 17 players selected league-wide for his support of local Habitat for Humanity affiliates and countless nonprofits in the Bay Area supporting education and recreation programs for underprivileged youth.

Despite arriving home to their practice facilities in Santa Clara after 2 a.m. from their Monday Night Football game in Arizona the night before, both Clements and Rossum jumped right in and went to work as soon as they arrived at the school taking part in wheelbarrow dumps, hammering and building play structures. Clements and Rossum joined over 160 volunteers to turn a once unsafe playground into a beautiful and welcoming play area. Although unable to play on the structure for two weeks as padding still needs to be placed, the children and Principal Willem Vroegh are very excited about the help from the 49ers and the NFL to make this happen.

“It shows our kids that there’s a larger community out there that cares about them and wants them to have a nice play environment and a nice school,” said Principal Vroegh. “Before, the structure was about 30 years old and it seemed like every other week a part on it was breaking. It was an accident waiting to happen. It’s important that there’s a safe thing for students to play on.”

Principal Vroegh also mentioned Clements efforts at the build which further validated why he was chosen as one of the National Neighborhood MVP’s.

“Nate was great – he was working harder than I was for sure,” said Principal Vroegh. “I thought he would just show up and shake some hands, but he was in there. He was doing it for a long time. I was really impressed that it wasn’t about him. He was here to help build a playground. He was low key. He was talking to the groups he was working with and he felt really genuine about the whole thing. You could see that he really wanted to be here and was here to work and not for the press.”

The San Francisco 49ers pride themselves on their ability to give back to the community and help youth understand the role of respect while staying safe, on track, and in school. Peabody Elementary School’s mission is clearly similar as they teach their students what respect is at an early age as one of the five-year-old students at the elementary school, Tal, said the following during the build.

“Respect is helping clean up…it’s all the good things. It’s respect, effort, and getting your work done.”

For video follow link to NFL.com: Nate Community Neighborhood MVP

Source: 49ers.com

I know that Trent Green finished out the game last week, but Marc Bulger is expected to start and we know what he’s capable of as a player. We want to be disruptive with him and try to attack him early. We can’t let him get anything going because he’s proven he’s capable of putting the ball anywhere. So, we just want to jump on him early.

We all know who Torry Holt is. He’s put a lot of work into his craft over his career. He’s shown he’s capable of being explosive and he is a sure-hand catch guy. We’ve got to limit his completions. We know Bulger is definitely going to look for him and throw him the ball.

Donnie Avery has also come on strong. He’s an explosive guy, a deep guy. He can run, he can catch, and so we want to slow him down as well. Dane Looker, he knows the ins and outs of their offense. They work him in the slot and he finds a way to get open.

Steven Jackson is a huge part of their offense when he’s healthy. He’s tough to bring down once he gets going so we want to attack him and not let him get going north and south. He’s a load. I looked at the Dallas game and once he got going, it was hard to stop him. So we want to attack him and keep him from getting rolling.

His backup Antonio Pittman has shown he’s versatile. They can use him in the backfield as well as receiving. We have to be prepared because those backup guys (Kenneth Darby and Sam Gado) have been getting some reps and some work in the offense with the injury to Jackson. We have to be prepared for any personnel they are willing to put out there.

I think we did some good things as a defense last week. After the turnover we went back out there knowing we had to get a stop. We just wanted to give the offense an opportunity at the end and as a defense we did what we had to do and that was to get off the field. Guys were out there fighting and scratching to get off the field and that’s what happened.

But, nobody on this team sees it as a moral victory. We just want to continue to get better, and we need to just flat out win.

49ers.com

When Nate Clements signed on with the 49ers during the 2007 off-season, the highly sought free agent believed he was joining an organization on the rise. Although the team hasn’t experienced the success he envisioned with a 2-6 start to the ’08 campaign, Clements still feels San Francisco will return to its glory days. It’s just a matter of putting in the extra work to get there.

A strong work ethic has been a staple for the veteran player throughout his entire life. As a youngster growing up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Clements learned early on that if he wanted to go places in life, he’d have to work his hardest to get there.

It was something he understood from his father, Nate Sr., an electrician and fireman who would take Clements and his younger brother along with him to rewire dilapidated houses.

“We’d go along to these boarded up houses that were in just horrible conditions – rat holes, roaches everywhere. There’d be no heat and it would be freezing in the middle of winter. We’d work twelve hour days with him, and I think it really opened our eyes on appreciating what we had. As we’d be there, he’d reiterate to us about going to school, and doing good in school so that we could do whatever we wanted in life and have better things.”

Clements also believes he inherited his competitive spirit from his father, a former boxer in the Army who remained physically active throughout Clements’ childhood by running in local 10K races and marathons.

“He’d always be training for those races and we’d just be with him always,” recalled Clements. “He’d take us along and we’d run hills. Even when I was real little, I always wanted to win, and as I got older and developed, I was able to beat him.”

In high school, Clements set his dogged determination on earning a football scholarship to nearby Ohio State. He worked out every morning before school and then stayed up till almost midnight every evening studying for the SAT’s.

His efforts paid off as Clements landed his scholarship with the Buckeyes, and saw the field as a true freshman before enjoying his first start as a sophomore in the Kickoff Classic that was played at the Jets/Giants stadium. In that game against Miami, Clements racked up 14 stops and an interception.

“Of course I remember my stats,” joked Clements. “My first start, in an NFL stadium, that’s a game right there.”

Clements enjoyed several more stellar games in his three-year college career before declaring early for the draft, where he was selected in the first round by the Buffalo Bills with the overall 21st pick.

“I think my confidence grew each year and by my junior year I definitely felt like I was one of the best corners heading into that draft, and since it was always my dream to play in the NFL, I decided to come out.”

Clements played in all sixteen games as a rookie, commanding respect in his first ever career start against the Jacksonville Jaguars by holding Jimmy Smith, a four-time Pro Bowler at the time, to only 49 yards receiving.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get a pick in that game, but I did lock down Jimmy Smith, who was one of the premier guys back then,” said Clements. “That was sweet.”

Clements never missed a game during his six yeras in Buffalo, a streak that has continued in his one and a half season with the 49ers.

Clements credits his durability to “the man upstairs mostly,” as well as his dedication to his training.

“It’s a matter of physically preparing your body to take this type of beating and the wear and tear on it,” said Clements. “As a rookie I always asked vets what they did to have stayed in the league so long and they all said to make sure you never stop working out and that you get in the ice tubs.”

Once the season ends, Clements takes no more than two weeks before he resumes his workouts. Although some players give their bodies a few extra weeks than that to recover, Clements can’t stand the sitting around.

“I’ve got to be active,” said Clements. “A week off is really about all I can handle. I try to stretch it to two, but usually I end up playing basketball after about a week off.”

He has fully participated in the 49ers off-season program in each of his first two seasons with the club, and during training camp, when teams typically go through their most grueling practices of the season, Clements added to his workload by running gassers.

Since the start of the season, Clements still does extra work on most days after practice. The veteran is typically joined by second-year corner Tarell Brown for some sled pulling, sled pushing, sprints, and/or back pedal drills before wrapping up their practice routine.

He gets in a workout every Tuesday, even though it’s slated as the players’ off day. Cardio and weights are usually followed by boxing, something he added to his workout regiment about two years ago when he was living in Houston for his off-season.

“Boxing is about being able to make contact and yet keeping your balance and it relates to football,” said Clements. “A jab is the same as a jam for me on the line of scrimmage, so it crosses over.”

And before his “day off” is over, Clements hits the Jugs machine, catching at least 500 balls in hopes to keep his hands in tip-top shape for any opportunities that may come his way on gameday for interceptions. Clements has one pick on the season – a deep ball intended for Randy Moss – but he stays in constant pursuit of steals, knowing that a turnover is the surest way to helping his team secure victories on Sundays.

“If I drop a ball in a game, that’s something that really always sticks with me for a long while,” said Clements. “Those get me because turnovers are so important to getting wins in this
league. So, working on my hands is something I stay on top of every week.”

He also always sticks to a film study routine that keeps him a day ahead of what’s required by the team. In addition to studying the scheme and formations of the offense, Clements puts in significant hours critiquing himself, and then scouring footage of the receivers he plans to guard against so that he can discover any tendencies or potential weaknesses.

For instance, by studying the Giants for the week seven matchup, Clements, who already had familiarity playing against Plaxico Burress over the years, felt he had a solid grasp of the routes he’d see from the Pro Bowl receiver based on formations. He also had a game plan on how to play him.

“He’s a big, tall receiver and it’s hard for him to get going so I felt like I could jam him off the line and really throw that timing off,” said Clements.

His studies paid off as Burress caught only three passes for 24 yards.

Clements has locked down other top notch receivers this year, helping to hold Larry Fitzgerald in week one to 3 catches for 31 yards and Anquan Boldin to 8 catches for 82 yards. Detroit’s Calvin Johnson came into the week three matchup with back to back 100-yard receiving days, but Clements kept him to just 4 catches for 40 yards.

He’s also had his mishaps on the year, like getting beat deep by Devery Henderson against the Saints. But as most corners in the NFL would say, those are the plays to learn from, and then quickly forget.

“You have to have a short memory,” said Clements. “It’s important to learn from your mistakes and make sure you correct it the next time, but if you dwell on them, you start to lose the confidence you need to play this position. I watch it, learn from it, and let it go.”

In addition to curtailing the receiving production of his opponents, Clements has earned a reputation for his tackling tenacity and his knack for stripping the ball. He finished his first season with the 49ers ranked third on the team with 110 tackles, while leading the team in forced fumbles with three. His 16 career forced fumbles from 2001-2007 rank third among all defensive backs. So far this season, he’s forced an additional fumble and is currently ranked sixth on the team with 27 stops.

The sure-tackler claims he owes his tackling prowess to a tree, yep you read it correctly, a tree.

Back when he started his football career as a five-year old linebacker for the PAL (Police Athletic League), his team couldn’t afford extra equipment like tackling dummies.

“We didn’t have the best equipment so we had to make do with other resources. It just so happened we had this huge tree where we’d practice. We used to run at it and then drive our legs. We hit it so much that there was a big hole in the ground right at the base of the tree.”

Clements and his San Francisco team have likewise dug themselves a deep hole after dropping five straight games. The losses pain the competitive player, whose love for the game is obvious at every practice and in every game as his laughter resonates across the field loud and clear. But these days, Clements said he feels more like he’s crying inside after each defeat.

Despite the mounting frustration, Clements knows only one way for the team to dig itself out – hard work, and lots of it.

“We just have to keep working and staying on top of our game,” said Clements. “We need a solid week of practice and then we need to carry that over to the game. I think our best game has yet to be played, and we need to make sure we play it on Monday night against Arizona.”

And as a creature of habit, Clements will do what he does before every single game he plays in – watch the locker room speech from the movie Any Given Sunday.

“It’s very inspirational and it’s all true,” said Clements. “It just gets my mind right.”

In part of his speech, Al Pacino tells his team, “Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch, play by play till we’re finished. We are in hell right now, gentleman, believe me, and we can stay here and get the (crud) kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light.”

For Clements, and the rest of the 49ers, it’s time to heal. The 49ers have eight games left to get out of the dark, and it starts under the bright lights and a national stage on Monday night.

Source: 49ers.com