Indystar 8/4 stories

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Underdog again, UIndy star RB Toriano Clinton trying to make Colts roster

WESTFIELD — Toriano Clinton couldn’t believe his eyes the first time he stepped onto the Grand Park practice fields wearing a blue and white practice jersey.

He’d worked so hard for a chance like this. Dreamed about playing in the NFL since he was 5 years old, like thousands and thousands of kids who never get the chance to sign an NFL contract, the way Clinton signed one earlier this week.

Until the Colts called, Clinton couldn’t even be sure he would get a chance like that, to walk out onto the practice field as an NFL player.

“It was wild, it was like a dream come true,” Clinton said. “But you can’t live in it too long, or you miss the work that’s going by.”

Indianapolis Colts running back Toriano Clinton (34) runs drills during day 6 of Colts Camp, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 at Grand Park.
Clinton didn’t get to this point by reveling in his surroundings.

The UIndy star made it to the NFL by working, by refusing to give up on a dream that had to seem far away. A diminutive player listed at 5-8, 191 pounds on the Colts roster, Clinton did not get a chance to start at St. Laurence High in Burbank, Ill., until he was a senior.


By that point, a lot of college programs already have their recruiting classes finished, and they already know their last couple of targets.

Adjusting those plans seems like it should be easy. Especially to get a running back who ripped off a school-record 2,557 yards in his final high school season and set a school record with 416 yards in the first round of the 6A playoffs.


Clinton ended up at UIndy, playing as a true freshman behind Lawrence North product Al McKeller, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons from 2017-19.

Clinton spent his first two seasons at UIndy as the Greyhounds’ secondary rusher, piling up 1,667 yards behind McKeller.

“I learned a lot from him,” Clinton said. “Learning how to develop things I didn’t really have at first was what allowed me to break out on my own. Before you can lead, you’ve got to follow. I followed him, saw what he did, and afterward, I put my own juice into it.”


The COVID-19 pandemic cost Clinton all but three games of 2020, the season that should have been his breakout. When NCAA Division II returned to a full schedule in 2021, he ripped off 1,543 yards and 17 touchdowns in nine games, averaging 7.4 yards per carry, then followed up that performance with 1,001 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior in 2022, picking up 6.8 yards per carry.


But like it was at the end of high school, Clinton had trouble catching the next level’s attention.

He tried out for just two NFL teams, the Colts and Bears, at the local pro days that allow each NFL team to try out players who grew up or played within a certain radius of the facility.

Only the Colts took a closer look.

When draft weekend came and went without Clinton hearing his name or signing as an undrafted free agent, he earned a spot as a tryout player at the team’s rookie minicamp.

He’d been the only running back at the Colts’ local pro day and the extra time with Indianapolis running backs coach DeAndre Smith helped.

“You get a more personal relationship with the coach,” Clinton said. “Coach Smith, he helped me out a lot, going into it, and because it was just me, I was able to catch on a little bit faster with the route concepts. And also, he just really had time to develop me with the stuff they had going on, getting me ready.”

Indianapolis signed four players after the rookie minicamp; Clinton wasn’t one of them.

But he’d carved out a place in the front office’s memory. When the team’s mandatory minicamp arrived in the middle of June, Clinton was back at the team facility, trying out again.

The Colts still didn’t offer Clinton a contract.

At that point, a lot of players might have given up on the dream they’d held for so long.

“That’s tough for anybody,” Clinton said. “It’s a dream that a lot of us are living out, that only a few get to see. At the end of the day, I was hopeful, I was prayerful, God-fearing. God had a plan for me. He tested my patience; I just had to wait for it.”

Clinton waited longer than most.

Four practices into training camp, Colts running back Zack Moss broke his arm, sidelining the team’s top option at a time when starting running back Jonathan Taylor was already on the active/physically unable to perform list due to offseason ankle surgery.

More:Meet the Colts running backs stepping up with Jonathan Taylor, Zack Moss out

Indianapolis called Clinton.

His dream had finally come true.

“I always felt like there was a possibility,” Clinton said. “I worked so hard for this.”

He’s a long shot again, fighting for a spot on a roster that already has Taylor, Moss, fifth-round pick Evan Hull and established third-year back Deon Jackson.

“He’s got really good speed," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. "I know he was a heck of a rusher at the University of Indianapolis and I’m excited to have him.”

Clinton has been in this position before.

He knows how to handle it.

“Going into it, I just expect to really give it all I have,” Clinton said. “Make a name for myself, put my school on the map. Not everybody’s this fortunate, so I’m just blessed to be here.”

Time to go to work again.