Clark Haggans, NFL linebacker , dies at 46

Clark Haggans, an outside linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers during a 13-year career that included stops in Arizona and San Francisco, has died. He was 46.

Colorado State University, where Haggans starred in the late 1990s, said Haggans died on Monday. No cause of death was given.

The Steelers took a flyer on Haggans in the fifth round of the 2000 draft. He responded by becoming a special teams ace before graduating into a starting role opposite Joey Porter on a defense that regularly ranked among the best in the NFL.

Haggans' finest season came in 2005. He racked up a career-best nine sacks and was a disruptive force in the playoffs as Pittsburgh won three straight road games to reach Super Bowl XL. Haggans had one of three Steelers sacks in the title game against the Seahawks as the franchise earned its fifth championship.

Haggans left the Steelers in free agency in 2008 and signed with the Arizona Cardinals. He remained there for four more seasons — reuniting with Porter in 2010 — and ended his career after a single season with the San Francisco 49ers, in which he made a return to the Super Bowl but lost to the Baltimore Ravens.

Haggans headed west to Arizona in 2008 but went down with a foot injury in mid-December, forcing him to sit out a postseason run that ended with the Cardinals falling to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

Haggans played for Arizona from 2008-11 and spent his final season in the league with the 49ers in 2012, finishing with 46 1/2 sacks in 172 games.

Haggans grew up near Torrance, California, before starring at Colorado State in the late 1990s. He helped the Rams to a pair of Western Athletic Conference titles and his 33 sacks remain a program record.

After Pittsburgh, Haggans spent four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and retired after one final season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012. He holds the Colorado State record with 33 career sacks and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2015.

“Clark never stops — ever,” defensive end Brett Keisel said in 2007. “It seems like, during the course of a game, when guys are starting to wear out and their energy levels are starting to drop, that’s when Clark really feasts on the opponent.”

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Sarah H

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