Tag: Jason Sehorn

Ryan Clark praises Broncos CB Riley Moss in entertaining video

“This is a minority at the position!” Clark said of Riley Moss. “He became the first white cornerback to have an interception in 22 years!”

During a recent episode of Inside the NFL on the CW, former NFL safety Ryan Clark named Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss his “Football Guy” of the week.

Clark praised Moss for his play and mentioned what has been a trending topic in Broncos Country: Moss is a rare white cornerback.

“I’m going to read to you some of his stats: 19-for-31 when targeted, only 179 yards allowed on the entire season,” Clark said. “He has three pass defensed. He also had an interception last week against Gardner Minshew. He is one of 15 cornerbacks that have been targeted 30-plus times because he plays opposite Pat Surtain.

“But, wait, guys! I buried the lede! He’s white! He is a white [cornerback]! This is a minority at the position! Do you know the struggles this man had to go through? … He trusted the dream and this week when picking off Gardner Minshew, he became the first white cornerback to have an interception in 22 years! Since my teammate in 2022 Jason Sehorn.”

Clark then joked to Bill Belichick that the former coach was “like the Rosa Parks for [Moss].”

Clark played in the NFL from 2002-2014, winning Super Bowl XLIII with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. Moss was picked by Denver in the third round of last year’s NFL draft out of Iowa. A first-year starter, Moss has had an excellent start to the 2024 season.

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Broncos poised to start Riley Moss (a white cornerback) this season

“He gets a lot of flak for being one of the only white corners in the league,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of cornerback Riley Moss.

The Denver Broncos went into training camp this summer with Riley Moss and Damarri Mathis competing for the team’s No. 2 cornerback spot across from star Pat Surtain. Moss seemed to be leading the competition going into the final week of preseason, then Mathis suffered an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve.

So while the Broncos have not officially announced it yet — an updated depth chart should be released next week — Moss is expected to start this season. He will be the only white starting cornerback in the NFL.

“He’s an extremely athletic player, you know, he gets a lot of flak for being one of the only white corners in the league, I get it,” Denver coach Sean Payton said during an interview with Kay Adams two weeks ago.

Moss was picked by the Broncos in the third round of last year’s NFL draft out of Iowa. After undergoing core muscle surgery in the offseason, he was limited to mostly special teams duties as a rookie. Now entering his second season, Moss is poised to start across from Surtain.

“Obviously, I think he’s got a little chip on his shoulder,” Surtain told Adams. “Because there’s a motto out there saying that there’s only three white corners in the NFL, so everybody’s going to be like, ‘Oh, man, let’s see what he got.”

https://twitter.com/heykayadams/status/1824189213216215444

The NFL’s last white cornerback to start consistently was Jason Sehorn, who overlapped with Payton while the coach was a QBs coach and later an offensive coordinator with the New York Giants from 1999-2002.

“Jason, uniquely, was different,” Payton said after drafting Moss in 2023. “Jason played safety in college. That’s an unusual conversion, regardless of who you are and where you’re from. He moved from safety to corner.

“He was a fantastic athlete. The closer to the receiver, the better for him. It’s too easy to say does [Moss] remind you of Jason. I would say there’s other corners we compare him to.”

Sehorn spent nine seasons in the NFL, starting 76 games. Moss is poised to make his first NFL start against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 on Sept. 8. Let’s see what he got.

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