Ryan Clark doesn’t hate the Ravens

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark told Kevin Patra of NFL Network that he does not hate the Baltimore Ravens and in fact worked out with Terrell Suggs this off-season (Credit: AP Photo)

Apparently the adage with age comes wisdom is something that pertains to Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark.

The Steelers safety, who’ll turn 33 in October, recently said that he won’t gripe about the league office as much as he used to.  Wednesday morning, Clark told NFL Network that, in reality, he doesn’t hate the Ravens.

“I don’t really hate them,” Clark said, via Kevin Patra of NFL Network.  “I was working out with Terrell Suggs this summer, before his injury.  He’s a really cool dude and he said it himself, he’s like, ‘People don’t understand that we only hate y’all two weeks or three out of the year.’”

Still, Clark said he did not appreciate the behavior the Ravens in their 35 to 7, week one win last year in Pittsburgh.

“I will say this about the Ravens:  That first game last year watching them dance on the field, seeing them fake an extra point while up 27 already, it allowed me to understand how much they actually dislike us as an organization as a coaching staff,” Clark said.  “So it brooded and stirred up a little hate in me.”

But Clark realizes that the broader purpose of the game isn’t to beat the Ravens.  “This organization, we worry about winning championships, we don’t focus on beating one team,” Clark said.  “There won’t be Gatorade baths because we beat the Ravens, won’t be parties, won’t be bottle-popping and confetti, it will be one game on our journey to win the Super Bowl and I always look at it like that.”

This year, the two teams don’t get together until November 18, and they play twice in 15 days.