Former Arizona Cardinals linebacker passes away at 46 years of age
By Jim Koch
The well-liked and talented linebacker out of Colorado State University spent four years with the Arizona Cardinals organization.
The Arizona Cardinals organization received some sad news this past week regarding the death of one of their former players. Clark Haggans, a well-liked individual who was a part of the Redbirds' Super Bowl team back in 2008, had passed away. The longtime NFL linebacker was just 46 years of age.
According to reports, the Larimer County Coroner's Office out of Fort Collins, Colorado responded to a call and found that Haggans was deceased. The cause of death is still undetermined, but officials released a statement indicating that no foul play was evident at the scene.
Haggans joined the Cards back in '08, and was just one of a large group of former Pittsburgh Steelers players and coaches who made their way to the desert in the late 2000's. The man they followed was Ken Whisenhunt, the club's one-time head coach who had spent three campaigns (2004-06) as the Steelers' offensive coordinator. Ironically, Arizona's lone Super Bowl appearance came with Whisenhunt at the helm and resulted in a 27-23 loss to Pittsburgh on February 1st, 2009.
Clark Haggans made the Arizona Cardinals the second stop on his three-team NFL journey
During his four seasons in the "Valley of the Sun" (2008-11), Haggans was credited with 186 tackles, 14 sacks, 27 quarterback hits and seven pass breakups for the Cardinals defensive unit. The California native's most-productive campaign for "Big Red" came in 2009, when he racked up 74 tackles, five sacks and 10 quarterback hits in his 16 appearances (14 starts) that year.
The 6 foot 4, 243 pounder turned pro back in 2000 as a fifth-round choice of the Steelers. Haggans starred at Colorado State University, and the 33 sacks he recorded during his time with the Rams is still a school record.
After playing his final season with the Cards back in 2011, Haggans caught on with the San Francisco 49ers for a nine-game stint in 2012. In his 172 professional appearances (104 starts), the productive defender totaled 520 tackles, 46.5 sacks, 24 passes defensed and 43 quarterback hits. We here at Raisingzona.com offer our sincere condolences to the Haggans family in their time of mourning.
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(Statistics provided by Pro Football Reference)