"Dallas Clark was an accomplished tight end when the Indianapolis Colts selected him in the first round of the 2003 draft. He was a two-year starter at Iowa, a player who knew how to carry himself on the football field.

Dressing for the occasion, though, turned out to be a different matter entirely.

It was a wide-eyed Clark who approached assistant equipment manager Sean Sullivan -- aka "Frog" -- prior to his first full-pads practice as a rookie.

"I asked Frog, 'Where are our hip pads?' " Clark said, smiling. "In college, you wear hip pads, butt pads, every pad you can think of."

The Colts' pants weren't designed to accommodate Clark's request for added protection.

"Not even a slot where you put thigh pads," he said. "Frog looked at me like I had four eyes. I told him I was serious, that I was used to wearing hip pads.""