There's something intriguing about the whole Twitter craze that entices athletes and celebrities to spill their guts in 140 characters and write things they may never say during an actual interview.
Take Daryll Clark, for instance.
Earlier this week, the well-spoken, mild-mannered Penn State quarterback unburdened himself on his Twitter account with an honest declaration that included two important words.
The subject concerned a relatively popular opinion among some Nittany Lion fans that Clark needs to have a big game in the Capital One Bowl and lead his team to victory over LSU. If he doesn't, his legacy will be that of a good quarterback who couldn't win the big game.
How does Clark feel about that?
"IM [TICKED]," he wrote in all caps, using a different word we chose not to print in a family newspaper.
It's understandable Clark would get upset about such a notion, given all of his impressive accomplishments in two years as Penn State's starting quarterback. He will leave as the school's career leader in TDs and TD passes, the single-season record holder for passing yards and as a two-time first-team all-Big Ten selection.
He's also 21-4 as a starter, so winning hasn't been a problem.
Winning big games, however, is a different story. That coupled with Clark's poor performances in those big games has led some to say he doesn't deserve to be mentioned among the best quarterbacks in Nittany Lion lore.
Clark faced a question about the legacy issue at PSU's bowl media day two weeks ago. As usual for him, and quite the opposite from his angry Twitter posting, he gave a calculated, politically correct response.
"That's not what I'm playing for," Clark said. "I'm not really focused on that. I don't want to play that kind of game. We plan on going down and winning, and we plan on going down and playing well against a really good football team. If we don't, it will be really unfortunate, but [securing a legacy] is not my intent for this football game."
Clark did acknowledge on media day he's aware of some of the criticism.
"There's a lot being said about us not being able to win the big game," he said.
Clark has gone 1-3 as a starter against Iowa and Ohio State in his two seasons, and he really can't even claim the victory over the Buckeyes. He suffered a concussion and was pulled in the fourth quarter, then backup Pat Devlin led the Lions to a come-from-behind victory.
Clark played fairly well but also failed to win a big game against USC in last season's Rose Bowl, though that loss should be pinned on a defense that got shredded for 413 passing yards by Mark Sanchez.
Still, the numbers don't lie, and Clark's numbers in Penn State's most important games are not impressive (see sidebar).
Joe Paterno lobbied throughout the season for Clark to receive more credit. Then, before PSU's regular-season finale at Michigan State, ESPN's Todd McShay took a shot at Clark when he called him an "interception machine" in big games.
That may not have been fair, but it did bring Clark's big-game problems to the forefront. Now he's down to his last chance to prove McShay and others wrong, and a win over LSU would give the quarterback the marquee victory that has eluded him.
"[We'll] see on new years," Clark wrote on his Twitter account.
As for how he personally would like to be remembered, Clark gave one of his more typical answers at media day.
"Just a guy that definitely represented his school in the best way, both on and off the field," he said. "A gentleman that handled the scrutiny that a quarterback may face in the best way possible. Definitely a team player. A very humble guy that always took the field with a plan to win."
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Clark fires back
Enough with the legacy stuff already, Clark said angrily Wednesday.
There has been plenty of talk about Clark needing to play well and win this game to secure his legacy as one of PSU's all-time best quarterbacks.
"I just can't stress enough on how unfair it is to the rest of the team," Clark said. "Everyone else is listening to this, and it's like, 'OK, so who are we playing for now? Are we playing to win, or are we playing to cement Daryll's legacy at Penn State?' And that's not what this is about."
The quarterback recalled a conversation he had with receiver Derek Moye about the legacy issue.
"We were having lunch, and he was like, 'Man, I've been talking to everybody, and they've been [saying] this game is what your legacy is all about. It comes down to this,'" Clark said. "I'm like, 'What?' Then I heard from some other guys or whatever, and I'm like, OK, this is getting out of hand."
Clark expressed his anger on his Twitter account recently, posting "IM [TICKED]" about the legacy issue, though he used a harsher word.
"That night I posted it, I heard it about 15 times that day, and we hadn't even been down here for about two days," Clark said.
"I was like, 'OK, that's enough,'" he added.
Cory Giger can be reached at 949-7031 and cgsports12@aol.com.
