TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama running back Ronnie Clark took the handoff, cut to his left and saw a clear path to the goal line. At the 7-yard line, Clark looked back to see if any defenders were about to catch him. Then he glanced back again — just to be certain — before crossing into the end zone.

“Once I bounced it outside,” Clark recalled, “I looked around and was like, ‘Oh yeah. This is the one.’ ”

Advertisement

The 9-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown run (pictured below) was the final score in a 66-3 Alabama rout of Ole Miss on Sept. 30. But judging purely from the unrestrained jubilation that ensued, one might have believed the Crimson Tide had just won the Iron Bowl or another championship.

Several starters, including defensive players Shaun Dion Hamilton, Ronnie Harrison, Anfernee Jennings and Hootie Jones, sprinted from the sideline to the corner of the end zone to celebrate with Clark. After the game, Nick Saban said Clark, a junior, represents “the ultimate great story … and what college football should be all about.”

About 60 miles east, Kimberly Clark sat in her wheelchair and watched her son score his first touchdown since high school. Her years-long battle with muscular dystrophy made her celebration far less outwardly exuberant than the one taking place in the end zone, but tears streamed down her face.

“It took me back to the happiness I felt the day he was born,” she said.

Ronnie Clark was a top-100 recruit nationally in 2014 but injuries, position changes and Alabama’s annual influx of top-flight talent have meant far less playing time than he once expected. He has appeared in nine career games and typically only plays when the score becomes lopsided — something no one expects to happen Saturday at Auburn. Many players in a similar situation might quit football altogether or at the very least seek a transfer, but not Clark.

“My mom is one of my biggest motivators,” he said. “What she’s going through with muscular dystrophy really motivates me to do what I do and to keep my head on straight.”

===

As Clark became a top recruit, he compiled scholarship offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, LSU, Tennessee, USC and many others. He played multiple positions throughout his career — a trend that has continued with the Crimson Tide. But while he was attending camps and racking up eye-popping stats, he was also in a unique situation at home.

Advertisement

Kimberly Clark was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when Ronnie was about 12 years old. Because his father Ronnie Sr. was gone three or four days a week for his job with the railroad, the younger Ronnie became his mother’s primary caretaker. He cleaned the house. He cooked meals. He washed dishes. He even learned to drive before he was 16 so he could run errands.

As Kimberly’s health worsened, she went from using a cane to using a walker and then needing a wheelchair. Ronnie was devastated to see the active mother who played basketball with her kids slowly become debilitated.

While he was taking care of his mother, Ronnie also had to look after his grandmother, who was fighting a brain tumor. His ability to balance those duties with staying on top of his grades and excelling in football earned him an Inspiration Award from USA Today.

“Ronnie has been the man of the house for a long time,” Kimberly said. “He had to grow up real fast because my condition hit me all at once, and then over the years, it got worse and worse and I had to depend on him.

“He’s been my backbone. I’m just so glad that God chose me to be his mom because he’s a good kid.”

===

Ronnie redshirted as an Alabama freshman, then played in three games the next season before tearing his left Achilles in practice. He fought his way back and appeared in four games last season, then tore his right Achilles.

Kimberly — who has lost most use of the left side of her body — made it her mission to keep Ronnie upbeat.

“A lot of people say he’s a momma’s boy,” she said with a laugh.

She calls Ronnie on a daily basis to see how he’s doing and uses her right hand to text him verses of scripture every morning after she wakes up and prays.

Kimberly can tell how her son is doing by the tone in his voice. A low tone gives away his most melancholy moods, and she heard that a lot after the second injury. But Ronnie rarely complained because his mom never complains about her condition.

Advertisement

“The race is not given to the swift or the strong but the one who endures to the end,” Kimberly said, quoting Ecclesiastes 9:11.

Ronnie has been a safety, a tight end and a running back for the Crimson Tide. He has played running back this season, but is buried on the depth chart behind Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough, Joshua Jacobs and Najee Harris. He has recorded 21 rushes for 107 yards and that one touchdown entering the Iron Bowl this weekend.

“Guys like Ronnie Clark set a tremendous example,” Saban said. “He’s never been a star player, but gets to play here and there a little bit. There’s not a more willing soul on our team to do whatever he needs to do. If he needs to go to scout team and be a running back, he’ll do it. If he needs to get in goal-line and be a fullback, he’ll do it.

“He has tremendous respect and leadership. He’s not maybe the best player on the team and maybe doesn’t play as much as some other guys … but when it comes to having the right heart to be a competitor, to contribute to the team, nobody does it better.”

Among Kimberly’s favorite Bible verses is Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” She says it or sends it to Ronnie fairly regularly and in her worst, most painful moments in therapy, Kimberly whispers it to herself.

She gets to a few Alabama football games each season but missed the Ole Miss game when her son scored. Still, she says his touchdown came to her in a dream about a month before it happened.

“I dreamt that he got his first touchdown and he had on a red jersey,” she said.

The week before it happened, Ronnie almost reached the end zone late in the fourth quarter of a blowout win at Vanderbilt, but Kimberly was OK when he didn’t score because he was wearing a white away jersey at the time.

Advertisement

So a couple hours after he did score his touchdown — in the right colored jersey — Ronnie went home to his apartment and FaceTimed with his No. 1 fan.

“She is why I’ll never be a quitter,” Ronnie said. “I’ll play this game as long as I can.”

(Top photo courtesy of Kimberly Clark)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kG9pb21jZH9xfZZoaGpnYmh8s7vNp6CeZZOhrrO3jJqjmpqRoq5uvtSnpaKml2Kvoq%2FKZqCrp55ir7DDy2g%3D