When former Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Dan Clark was a youngster taking his first steps on a Regina Minor Football field, the dream was always there, but a long way away.
What would it take for a youngster who grew up in the Queen City to play for his hometown team? How much hard work and effort and desire would be needed to become one of those rare legends: a member of the Green and White who grew up in Regina?
As it turns out, Clark figured it all out and then some.
Fourteen years with the Roughriders organization. A full decade hitting the gridiron at Taylor Field. And now a member of the Riders Plaza of Honour.
“I idolize this place,” Clark said during a Plaza press conference earlier this week. “I went to Thom Collegiate every day and when you cross that Argyle Street Bridge, you see Taylor Field and Mosaic Stadium. I wanted to show up here every day and represent what it meant to be Saskatchewan, and that was the community, that was the province, that was our organization giving us everything that we needed to be able to be successful.
“I think every one of us up here just wants Rider Nation to be proud of what we did and what we represented, and that's something to a whole is just the community environment and that idolization that I had.”
Clark — who is joined by receiver Rob Bagg and kicker Paul McCallum as the 2026 Plaza inductees — first broke in with the Riders back in 2009, when he worked off the practice roster while finishing up the final two seasons of his Regina Thunder junior career.
He dressed for his first regular-season game in 2012 and put together a 10-year career that included a CFL All-Star team nod in 2019. All told, he’d play 131 games, the vast majority at centre and left guard.
Through it all, eventually becoming a member of the Roughriders hall of fame was as far from his mind as imaginable.
“To say I'm humbled is probably an understatement,” Clark said. “As most of you understand, I feel like I don't deserve to be up here, but it's coming to light. I’m sitting next to Bagger. Are you kidding me? I'm sitting beside Paul McCallum, this is a legend that I've had the opportunity to play with. These are both legends. I'm excited to share the opportunity for my kids and my wife to be able to be a part of this. I'm excited for the honour and I'm looking forward to the next couple of days.”
Things all started in earnest for Clark’s football career when he emerged as a standout offensive lineman with the Thunder. That attracted the attention of the Riders, and being able to cut his teeth in the professional game while working against some of the best in the CFL helped get things rolling in a positive fashion.
Interestingly enough, it’s a similar situation for current Thunder running back Peter Boersch and receiver Ben Walz, both of whom have split time with the junior club and the Roughriders practice squad this season.
Having worked his way up through the ranks is a source of pride for Clark, and one he hopes the current Thunder players will follow.
“You look at it coming from a junior program, you're not expected to make it here,” he said. “It's all about what you're willing to do to make it here. I didn't set any standards. I didn't do anything different than any legend that's been around here or any player. I just was able to work hard, be able to put myself in the best light, be able to take any opportunity and run with it. Looking out there and seeing those Thunder kids be able to have that opportunity, it ain't any different. What are you willing to do every day to keep your job is the mindset you have to have coming into this building.”
Like both Bagg and McCallum, Clark’s road to success wasn’t paved in gold. There were tough times where it looked like things might come to a premature end, but the fight was always there, and that’s something that’s a positive message to any player trying to claw their way up through the ranks.
“I say that we've represented very well as a group up here, but there have been troubled times that we've went through to be able to stay where we've stayed for a long time,” Clark said. “It isn't anything to do with other than hard work and dedication. I'm just showing my kids that if you work hard enough, great things can happen. It's about the path. It's about your journey. It's not about anyone else's. They're going to try to replace you. How long can you outlast them before they do?
“You just have to be dreaming big enough and run with it,” Clark said later in the discussion.
“That's all you have to do. It's about believing yourself when no one else wants to believe in you. It's about being in the gym at 4.30 in the morning. It's about putting those standards higher than anybody else will take it and running with it.”
One person who believed in Clark more than anyone else in his early time with the Riders was offensive line coach Bob Wiley. The former NFL o-line boss was a major proponent of Clark in his first years with the Riders and helped mold him into the player he became.
“Being 19 years old, walking into the building, going not only up against guys that I idolized, but having an opportunity to battle every day, Bob Wiley believed in me, no matter what the situation was,” Clark said, pointing to a moment in that first preseason where Gene Makowsky went down with an injury and Chris Best was technically the next guy up.
“(Wiley) goes, you're the left guard on the depth chart, Clark. Jump in there. Man, I'm sitting beside (Jeremy) O'Day. I got Marc (Parenteau) out there. I got guys that I idolized my entire life beside me. I had my chance. So if it wasn't for Bob Wiley, I would never have been a Rider. That's thoroughly, honestly, what I believe and what I can stand on as the truth.”
One thing that’s for certain, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of players all over Regina and Saskatchewan who would do anything to become the next Dan Clark, the next hometown hero and Roughriders legend.
Clark’s message to those youngsters?
“Be better than me, dream bigger,” he said. “Have that opportunity to know that no matter where you are in an environment, you can succeed in a high-paced, high-stressed, high-anxious environment like football.
“I wanted to be able to make sure this province had the ability that if a younger kid had that mentality like I did, they could grow better and be able to succeed. I just look over at my kids, and I want them to let them know that if you dream big enough, great things do come, and from that, it's all about your hard work and dedication.”
You can check out Rob Bagg’s thoughts on his Plaza of Honour induction right here, and be sure to check back soon for Paul McCallum’s take on becoming a Saskatchewan Roughriders hall of famer.
