Clayton, Strait Return to Receive Degrees


	Mark Clayton with Kenny Mossman \| Clayton with Media

NORMAN, Okla. -- Somehow Mark Clayton and Derrick Strait left Oklahoma unfulfilled.

Clayton, a wide receiver from 2001-04, laid claim to nearly every pass-catching record at the school and played on two Big 12 championship teams.

Strait, a defensive back from 2000-03, knew the exhilaration of winning a national title and also picked up the Thorpe and Nagurski Awards as the top defensive back and top defender, respectively, in college football.

Both became early-round draft picks who fashioned extensive professional careers.

Yet these two titans of OU football spent the last few years feeling unfulfilled, less than satisfied. The reason? Their impressive vitas were missing degrees from the university.

That changes Saturday when the two become part of the 121 Sooner student-athletes who will receive their diplomas.

"I've known for a long time that it was something I needed to get done," said Strait, who knocked out the last four hours of a sociology/criminology degree with a history and computer course. "Mainly, I put all of the pressure on myself. I know some guys hear about it from their families, but this was really something that I wanted to do."

For Clayton, a communications major and still a member of the Baltimore Ravens, the degree became a goal only recently.

"It means a lot as far as completion," he said. "When I left I didn't feel like I would come back, that I'd be in the NFL, and that would be fine. As my career went on I started thinking man I need to finish because there are some things that I want to do that I know the degree would open doors."

Call it mind over matter.

"The NFL doesn't last long," he said. "Once you get in, and are part of it, you see guys coming and going. Physically your body is always deteriorating. Your mind isn't going anywhere, you can always process information. Take advantage of your physical ability early, but keep in mind you're going to have to finish this thing out using your brain, using your mind.

"In the NFL (you play until your) mid-30's if you're lucky. That's very rare. School is very important. To go into the work force, you're going to need your degree."

Clayton can wax wise these days, after all, he's at an advanced age. Just ask his classmates, several of whom watched him swallow his pride.

"I was sitting in class with a bunch of freshmen," he said. "It was a class I failed as a freshman for not paying attention, a meteorology class. I met a couple of (my classmates) and they told me they were 17. I told them, 'Man, I'm 27; just trying to get out of here.'"

Both Strait and Clayton envision different career paths in the coming years. Strait has his eye on people like Bob Stoops and Bobby Jack Wright, the men who tutored him for those four years in a Sooner uniform.

"I'd really like to get into coaching, maybe at OU someday," said the Austin, Texas native, who currently resides in his hometown. "I just want to get myself established and begin that part of my life. Coaching (defensive backs) really appeals to me.

"I think I have some things to offer because of my age and what I learned in college and pro ball. I played for some very good coaches in some big games and those are things that will help me as I start working with younger players."

Clayton may do some coaching too, but not on the field. He yearns for a career of coaching young people through difficult situations in an office or maybe a pastor's study. He plans to enroll in seminary.

"There are some kids who are really lost," he said, shaking his head. "They just need some direction and some guidance. That's the best way to love on them and let them know there is someone who cares."

Clayton has his own young person to love on, too, in Ayden, his son, and one of his main inspirations in the degree completion.

"For me, it's about leaving a legacy," he said. "I have a son now. He's two years old. I want to be able to say, 'When you go to school, you're going and you're finishing. It's not just starting and cutting out. We finish. As the Clayton family goes, we're going to be finishers.' He'll come behind me and he'll be a finisher."

That's the theme these days as OU Athletics' top-ranked Degree Completion Program continues to yield graduates, who have learned that fulfillment is a myth if it doesn't encompass a lifetime.

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Story by Kenny Mossman, Sr. Associate AD for Communications