Clever was born on January 16, 1983, in Palm Springs, California. He grew up in San Jose, California and attended Santa Teresa High School. He attended college at the University of Nevada, Reno and played for the club rugby team, where he was named as a three-time collegiate All-American (2002–04).
He was chosen as the North American Player of the Decade and the Ruggamatrix USA Player of the Decade for 2000-2009. For many years Clever was the captain and face of the United States national team.
Clever began his professional career in New Zealand in 2006 when he joined North Harbour in the National Provincial Championship.
Among other accolades, Clever was named the 2008 USA Rugby Men's Player of the Year by World Rugby Shop. Clever played in the 2009 Churchill Cup that saw the Eagles clinch the Bowl by beating Georgia. Clever further led the Eagles to success in 2009 by beating Uruguay in a home-and-away series to clinch a berth into the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Clever captained the team during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, starting three matches.
Clever has also played for the US national rugby sevens team. In late 2009, Clever scored what was deemed the try of the day in George. In the final match of the day for the US against Scotland, Clever leaped over an injured player and physio and glided into the try zone for a consolation try.
Clever joined Suntory of Japan in June 2010. In March 2012 Clever and Suntory won the Japan Top League final over Panasonic. He then went on to play for the BGC APBs which won the 2012 Hong Kong 10s tournament. In March 2012 Clever signed a contract with NTT Communications Shining Arcs another Top League club. He confirmed that he would be leaving the Shining Arcs after the 2015 season to rejoin his former club OMBAC to compete in the 2015 Pacific Rugby Premiership.
On 21 June, Clever announced his international retirement and his last game was the Eagles 52–16 win over Canada to see the United States qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup as Americas 1.
Clever was featured in ESPN The Magazine's 2015 The Body Issue and was the first rugby player in the edition's history.
Following poor results at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, USA Rugby parted ways with Mike Tolkin. Newly appointed head coach John Mitchell reintegrated Clever with the team immediately as well as reinstating him as captain of the squad. He became the most capped player in United States history on June 25, 2016, in the United States' 2016 mid-year rugby union internationals match against Russia.
