CARDS: Pro Set 1989, Fleer 1991, Score 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2026, C/o Work
SENT: 2/2/26 RECEIVED: 2/21/26 (19 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

• Sam played basketball at Pitt from 1977-’81.
• He averaged 14.4 points and 11.6 rebounds a game as forward over four years.
• Then in ’79 won a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games.
• Drafted by both the Phoenix Suns and the Seattle Seahawks- despite not playing a down of football in college- in 1981.
• Played in the CBA for the Billings Volcanoes scoring 11.5 points and pulling in 8.3 rebounds a game from 1981-’82.
• Joined the Seahawks in ’82 but spent the entire season on IR after messing up his knee.
• In 1983, Sam was a rotational piece behind Jacob Green and Jeff Bryant, seldom used in nickel and dime situations.
• Spent a season in the USFL with the Pittsburgh Maulers in 1984 notching 120 tackles, 15 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries.
• Posted another 4 sacks in ’85 playing for the Memphis Showboats.
• After the USFL collapsed that year, traded by Seahawks to the Browns.
• Played four seasons for Cleveland, starting 21 contests and making 14 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries.
• Signed as a free agent in ’88 with the Indianapolis Colts.
• In 1990, started 8 of 16 contests as a pass rush specialist at both LDE and RDE.
• Led team with 7.5 sacks, and had 48 total tackles.
• Finished career with the Colts after the 1993 campaign and tallied 16 sacks and 4 fumble recoveries over time in Indianapolis.
• Coached DL in NFL Europe, for the Barcelona Dragons‘ World Bowl Champion Team in 1997 (’95-’99).
• Returned stateside to coach for a duo of NFL Teams, the Saints (2000-’03) and the Raiders (2004-’05).
• Hailed as a local home grown hero, Sam as of 2026 is a director at Pitt’s Varsity Club.

ACCOLADES:

• Gold Medal Pan American Games- Basketball 1979
• Awardee of Distinction- Pitt Varsity Letter Club
• Sam Clancy Day- June 23rd, 2023
• Pitt’s All-Centennial Men’s Basketball Team (1905-2006)
• Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame

NOTES:

Sam had an incredible career for an athlete who never played a down of college football before stepping onto the gridiron. The cards themselves came back a bit bent but that’s okay.

I’m glad that Sam got some other cards, because I absolutely loathed this card of him in his warm ups for Indianapolis. Pro Set at the time at least really prided itself in capturing players in the action. This was certainly not that. I like to give Pro Set the benefit of the doubt that maybe this was a replacement card for someone who retired, since it’s at the back end of Pro Set 1989 series II right before the rookies.