Frank Clark’s performance for Seahawks, personal past should be separate discussions

RENTON – We’re going to have to talk about Frank Clark.

That’s true because of the impact he’s going to have as a rookie defensive lineman and because of the furor that followed Seattle’s second-round selection of Clark, who was charged with domestic violence in November 2014 and dismissed from Michigan’s team.

Clark was Seattle’s most consistently impressive player on the field Friday night. Tyler Lockett may have had the biggest highlight with his 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but it was Clark who recorded nine tackles, forced a fumble and showed both versatility and relentlessness.

It’s exactly how Clark looked through the first two weeks of training camp, coach Pete Carroll said, but there hasn’t been all that much conversation about him for two reasons. First, he’s a defensive lineman, a difficult position to evaluate without full-contact workouts. Second, it’s easier just not to bring Clark up given the strong objection that some felt toward Seattle’s decision to draft him.

Some won’t be able to watch Clark make a play without thinking of the details from his arrest. Others will consider the matter closed once the assault charges were dismissed and won’t look beyond what he does now that he’s a Seahawk.

But we’re going to talk about Clark because he’s going to be a significant part of Seattle’s defensive line and potentially a star. He’s looked that good, and I believe that his performance on the field should be viewed as a separate issue entirely from the Seahawks’ decision to select him. His success won’t justify Seattle’s decision to choose him anymore than his struggles on the field would condemn it.

The question of whether or not a player is draftable shouldn’t be determined on a sliding scale. A team shouldn’t look at a player and decide he has to be this good in order to justify being selected despite being accused of doing something that bad.

There were players the Seahawks removed from their draft board. Clark was not one of them. That’s not because he was so singularly talented, but because Seattle evaluated Clark and decided that his case was not as straightforward as it sounded in the initial police report. That was the team’s decision, and it’s not his performance going forward that will validate that decision, but his behavior off the field.

The scrutiny of Seattle’s decision to draft Clark back in May was more about the team’s policy on allegations of domestic violence, as explained by general manager John Schneider years before Clark’s selection and then immediately afterward.

That focus on the team’s policy meant the question of whether Seattle should have drafted Clark was overshadowed by the question of whether Clark’s history made him the kind of player Schneider said he wouldn’t draft.

That process stands separate and distinct from what happens going forward with Clark. His performance – whether it’s positive or negative – isn’t going to provide any further clarity or vindication.

What Clark does with this opportunity, though, that’s entirely up to him, a statement that is as true for his actions off the field as it is for his performance on it.

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