He never feared for his overall health.

Really at no time did Deonte Clyburn have concerns he would never again play the sport he loves. Even as the blood clots flowed through his body, those thoughts never entered his mind.

There was worry, sure. Like when he started to notice he was winded climbing stairs. That had never happened before, but the sensation most definitely created pause in the mind of the 6-foot, 230-pound linebacker who considered himself in really good shape.

OK, going to the hospital kinda freaked him out. The original diagnosis of bronchitis was wrong, and blood work revealed that to the medical staff.

“The scariest part was just being in the hospital in the beginning, away from all my family. I’d never been in the hospital before,” Colorado State’s senior linebacker said. “Then when they told me that if I didn’t come in that week, maybe a week or two later, it could have been very bad, could have been fighting for my life.”

It never reached that point. Clyburn was put on medication and told on Feb. 27, 2016 — he pops out that date without hesitation — he was going to have to sit out for about 12 months. No hitting, no practice, no games. Initially, no working out either, which was a drastic change.

Clyburn called the time away “annoying”, and it was 14 months before he was cleared to play again. It wasn’t time wasted at all in his mind, and deep down, he learned there is more to him that meets the eye.

“I enjoy it a lot more now,” he says of the game. “Everybody knew Deonte Clyburn as the football player, and that’s what I saw myself as. Once I realized I might not have it, I had to learn different identities and learn how to do different things. When I look back, now it’s just another part of me, something I love doing.”

That’s not a secret.

“I love football, probably more than the average person. Probably more than the average football player loves football. I don’t just love the benefits, I genuinely love the game. I love the history. I love who changed the game. I love certain people at my position.”

When Mike Bobo hits the recruiting trail, he’s looking for players who love — not like — the game. There is a big difference.

He didn’t recruit Clyburn, he inherited him when he took over the Rams in late 2014. Midway through their first season together, Clyburn became the starting middle linebacker for the Rams and almost instantaneously became the unit’s emotional leader. He packed production into the second half, finishing fourth on the team with 74 tackles, seven for a loss.

When he isn’t playing football, he studies all aspects.

It’s the middle of the summer, and Bobo knows one of the ESPN networks replayed a game the night before, a repeat of an SEC championship game. He’s pretty sure if he dialed up Clyburn the next day, his linebacker watched it, but not like a fan.

He’d recall plays, especially the one’s that matter.

“There’s so many kids that don’t even watch football. They don’t watch it,” Bobo said in a way to let you know this astounds him. “They like playing and they like competing. They don’t love it. Deonte is a guy that loves it. He’s constantly watching football, he’s constantly watching film. He’s consumed by it. That’s why he’s a productive player for us. He’s not the biggest, the strongest, the fastest, the most athletic. His love for the game, his love to compete and his love for his teammates and loving everything about football is what I think makes him the player he is.”

Even with a year away, Clyburn expects to be back, better than ever. Where some see a setback, he sees a silver lining. Yes, the Rams could have used him last year with a young defense, but they most definitely need him now to reassert himself as a leader and a producer.

There is talent at linebacker for Colorado State, with Tre Thomas and Josh Watson growing into their roles, but everyone involved is convinced Clyburn will make them both better. Make the entire defense better.

“We know when Deonte is out there,” CSU defensive tackle Jakob Buys said. “His presence is out there. You want to know your leader is out there, you don’t want to look around and check. You just know.”

However, the man himself assumed nothing. He was never disconnected from the team, sitting in on meetings and being as involved as he could at practices. Bobo knew it was important for the player and his teammates to be around, so he traveled with the team, as well.

This spring, like last season, Clyburn picked his spots. He didn’t just jump in and try to take over. First, he wanted to make sure he was comfortable with where he was as a player.

“I’ve always been a natural leader as some people would say, but I always knew how to follow,” Clyburn explained. “I didn’t just become a leader because I woke up one day and decided I wanted to be a boss. That came from watching people, watching how they handled things, watched how they would lead, learn how to talk to different people in a certain way, because some people don’t respond that well to this criticism or that criticism. I always learned how to follow. I’m trying to critique my whole craft before I go on to telling another man what to do when I haven’t played football for a year.”

“I love the competitiveness of it, the strategy and how on defense, the head of the defense, you’re not really playing against the offense, you’re playing against the person in the box, the offensive coordinator.”

Every player has a playbook. Those who can see beyond the Xs and Os and where the lines lead understand the depth the game brings. If a defense attacks one spot, there is a vulnerability elsewhere. He knows with certainty every coordinator out there has tendencies, versed by down-and-distance, perceived strengths and weaknesses. Clyburn sees the game that way, and he’s driven by the challenge of the chess match.

He wants to look across the line of scrimmage into the eyes of the quarterback and see what the offensive coordinator is thinking. He may need to take on a guard or a fullback on a play, but Clyburn lights up when talking about the real battle going on inside his head.

“It’s always a competition between the players of course, but those two or three or four plays that determine a game from an offensive or defensive standpoint, those plays are predetermined by the offensive coordinator,” he said. “He thinks he can run those plays and they’ll be big for them. I think the leader of the defense has to know these things, has to see these things and have to try to stop it.”

He just had to get back, and when he was cleared for spring practice, Clyburn was giddy.

Rusty, too, but he expected as much. Yet, just as he was starting to get the hang of being on the field in pads and popping teammates, he hyperextended his knee, cutting his spring camp to basically two weeks.

“Getting the two weeks helped, but I really wanted to get back into the full swing of things,” he said. “Those two weeks, I got my feet wet a little bit. Getting back into the season and getting a full fall camp will be an accomplishment, then going into the season will be huge.”

A year away did not change his goals. He wants to be first team all-conference and defensive player of the year. What tops his list is winning a Mountain West championship. In his vision, there is no up-and-down to the schedule, just a straight path.

For that to happen, he feels the Rams need to know what kind of team they are coming out of camp into the season opener Aug. 26 against Oregon State. They must carry a confident identity out of the tunnel, and the defense must become consistent.

“Attitude. How we approach every day: the attitude, dedication, film study. That can’t be lackadaisical,” he said. “Defense wins championships. If you can’t stop another team from scoring, you can’t win the game. It’s annoying, especially for me. I’m a defensive guy, and I always have a lot of pride. It feels good right now to see a lot of people on the defensive side on the ball working really hard and of the same mindset, that we want to be the best and be talked about as one of the best.”

Bobo really wanted to see what a spring camp full of Clyburn would have brought to that side of the ball, but even in limited action, the coach witnessed enough.

“He’s a calming force for those guys,” Bobo said. “They know he’s going to be there, where he’s supposed to be. He can get them lined up, and he understands where you’re at at any given moment of a game. It’s big for our defense.”

Give him a full fall camp, one that allows the player to reestablish himself in his own mind first before imposing his will on others, that’s an evolution worth the wait.

“I love the grit, I love the nasty. I love how tough you have to be. Football was once everything that I thought, that it was the answer to everything. I still believe it’s the answer to some things, and it helps me to understand certain things, but it’s not everything that puts me together anymore. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”





When Clyburn was sidelined, it wasn’t as if he had to find himself. This was a young man who traveled across the country with a plan of attack, on the field and in the classroom. He was just as in tune in earning his communications degree, continuing with internships and video work.

He was able to be a little more involved with activities through his fraternity, and he also took a trip to Jamaica this summer with other CSU athletes, led by senior associate athletic director for diversity and inclusion, Dr. Albert Bimper.

There, Clyburn and his fellow Rams helped rebuild schools and parks. More inspiring to him was building relationships with children down there, coming to understand their hopes and perspectives, realizing their similarities far outweighed any differences.

“It was a different atmosphere, and everyone was genuine, nice. You really had to take a step back and realize we are fortunate in America, extremely fortunate,” Clyburn said. “There, some of them aren’t as fortunate, but some of them have better attitudes than we have, have better outlooks. It was refreshing to see that. I enjoyed the kids, the relationships we built over there.”

Thanks to social media, Clyburn gets to stay in touch with those he met.

The injury was not something he talks about as being life altering. He didn’t look at his in a different way, but he did get to see a few alternate vantage points. His teammates don’t see him differently, because they all loved him before. It spoke volumes how happy they were to have Clyburn, the person, back on the field more than the linebacker who leads.

“When we all found out about (the blood clots), it was one of those downer days, like, ‘damn,'” Buys said. “We couldn’t believe this happened.

“Deonte is a great person. He’s got a great attitude all the time. He can talk, he can listen to people, too. Having him come back and having him get that good news was a great thing.”

Clyburn was the happiest of the bunch. He is no longer on medication, and he’s eating a healthier diet sans fried chicken and Taco Bell. He didn’t want to envision a life without football, but he found he could accept it if forced. What he found was the real reason he actually missed the game.

“I’m not overwhelmed by it, by the thought. It has put me in a way better place. Now I’m doing it because I actually love the game, not because I know the benefits of it, what it can do for me. With or without football, I’m going to love football.”

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/mbrohard