Claypool's used to being 'the bigger kid in class'

Chase Claypool is a young man who has refused to be denied in his life, fighting through a number of obstacles to achieve his dreams.

The youngest in a family of four brothers, a sister and two step brothers, Claypool had to fight for everything he got growing up in Abbotsford, British Columbia, about 10 minutes north of the U.S. border between Seattle and Vancouver.

Sometimes there wasn't even enough food to go around, especially when you're the youngest. Notice, we didn't say "smallest."

Claypool has never been that. By the time he was in middle school, the now 6-foot-4, 238-pound wide receiver was wearing a big man on campus -- literally.

"I've always been the bigger kid in class or on teams," Claypool said Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after the Steelers made him their pick in the second round of the NFL Draft Friday night.

"My feet were size 15 in grade 7 or 8. I kind of knew I was going to be taller because I was pretty short for size 15 feet at the time. I kind of grew into that."

He also grew up mentally and emotionally early because of adversity he faced. His mother worked in a traveling carnival, so she would be away for long stretches.

Though his mother, Jasmine, provided the support and love she could, he was always around his siblings. But when Claypool was 14, his only sister, Ashley, then 17, committed suicide.

It's the kind of thing that can cause a youngster to go into a shell. For Claypool, it only fueled his fire.

"I think it gave me another reason to push even that much harder," Claypool said. "I like to use adversity to my advantage and just learn from it and become a better person from it. (Having it) happen early in my life kind of helped me push all the way through to where I'm at now."

Where he is at now came thanks to a lot of hard work and a competitive streak that makes him tough as nails.

Initially, Claypool was into BMX riding. But as he outgrew the smaller bicycles used in that sport, he gravitated toward basketball, where he played on the AAU circuit and averaged 40 points per game in 2015 as a senior playing point guard.

But football, which he had also played since he was 8 years old, also was a love, though not perhaps the dream most have growing up in Canada.

Though he had primarily been a running back growing up, Claypool split time between quarterback, wide receiver, running back and linebacker and safety on defense in his final season in high school. He finished with 1,473 yards receiving and 567 yards rushing with 32 touchdowns (18 receiving, 8 rushing, 3 passing, 2 punt returns, 1 kick return), adding 74 tackles and five interceptions on defense. He helped Abbotsford reach the 2015 British Columbia High School Football AA Championship Game for the first time since 1984.

It was a legendary performance, but it also came in Canada, where football isn't viewed quite the same way it is in the United States.

So, when Claypool, then a 6-foot-4, 205-pound prospect, started getting Division I football offers, it was a big deal. A four-star recruit, he chose Notre Dame, becoming the first Canadian to sign with the Irish since 1994.

He made an immediate impact with the Irish, leading the team with 11 special teams tackles as a true freshman. Eight of his tackles came on punt coverage. The Irish had just 19 tackles on punt coverage all season -- as a team. Coming from Canada, Claypool knew he had to show quickly that he belonged.

"Being ultra-competitive is just kind of who I am. I've brought that from Day 1," he said. "I had a chip on my shoulder coming from Canada. Not a lot of guys give that respect off the bat, as you can imagine. Respect was kind of earned. That was through tough, physical play. And that was through being competitive. There have been some situations where I might have been too competitive, but I'd rather be too competitive than not competitive at all."

That competitiveness caught the eyes of the Steelers at the Senior Bowl, where GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin took notice.

"We were really impressed, in Chase’s case, by his physicality," Tomlin said. "And it really captured our attention, regardless of what drill he was in down in Mobile, whether it was a special-teams drill or whether it was a wide receiver-DB blocking drill. As I started to study his tape after that exposure, it was consistent on his tape as well. There’s a physicality in his play that was really attractive outside the things that were mentioned.” 

That strong play on special teams continued throughout his career as he earned his playing time on offense. Claypool would finish his career with 29 tackles on special teams, despite becoming a starter in his second season.

Claypool caught 29 passes in his second season, 50 in year three and 69 as a true senior in 2019. He just kept getting better and better.

Yet, when he got to the NFL Scouting Combine in February, doubts still remained. Having continued to put on muscle, Claypool looked like a tight end. After he weighed in, some teams asked if he'd be willing to work out with the tight ends.

He agreed but knew that once he ran his 40-yard dash, those questions about what position he plays would be pushed aside.

"I knew what I was going to run, so I knew some of that would disappear after I ran the 40," he said. "I liked the creativity that people started to place me in different roles on offense. I think it just added to the versatility that I bring to teams."

Claypool ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash, one of the fastest times of any receiver at the combine. He tested off the charts athletically in the jumps. But in a deep class of receivers, he was considered just outside the top 10 at the position.

Analysts turned on his game tape and said it didn't appear that he played as fast as he timed, something that happens to a lot of bigger receivers with long strides.

The same thing happened to his Notre Dame teammate Myles Boykin the year before. At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Boykin had also run a 4.42-second 40 at the combine in 2019. But some questioned his playing speed. He was a third-round pick of the Ravens.

"Maybe people view me as slower because of stride length or something," Claypool said. "I had a teammate, Myles Boykin, who always seemed like he was slow on film because his stride length was so long. But when you actually go with him, you realize how fast he really is. That's perception. In-game speed is always something I want to get better at if I can improve that."

Given his background and how hard he worked to get to this point, it probably isn't smart to bet against him.

The Steelers envision using Claypool as a matchup problem for opposing teams — a big, physical target in the passing game with the speed to run by defensive backs if they're not careful.

Claypool is ready to take on that challenge. The kid from Canada. The one with the chip on his shoulder is coming to the NFL.

"I don't think it's fully sunk in yet," he said. "I think it's something that gets more real as the day goes on. I'm definitely starting to see the transition. Things are a lot different. I'm getting more and more used to that."