Did ESPN.com take a cheap shot at Seahawks rookie Frank Clark?

Only a select few people will ever know what happened at the bottom of a pile between Seahawks rookie Frank Clark and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers in Saturday’s preseason game. But the ensuing reaction to the incident by ESPN.com was the top debate on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” Monday.

Clark, Seattle’s controversial second-round pick who was accused of domestic abuse prior to being taken in the 2015 NFL Draft, was involved in a scuffle following a sack during the Seahawks’ 16-15 win. ESPN.com ran a story following the game headlined “Seahawks rookie Frank Clark accused of attacking Philip Rivers,” with multiple San Diego offensive linemen telling reporters about defending their franchise quarterback.

“I never have heard that word attack before in any context on the field,” said “Brock and Salk” producer James Osborn. “Journalists are all about choosing words. We choose words very carefully and closely. That’s very intentional.”

None of the Chargers were specifically quoted by ESPN.com as saying anything that supported the headline or lead paragraph, but the story caused a Twitter tidal wave, with some accusing ESPN of using the incident as an excuse to attack Clark’s character. Gawker-owned sports site Deadspin wrote its own story headlined “Frank Clark Keeps Punching People and this Time it’s Philip Rivers.”

Radio hosts Brock Huard and Mike Salk, along with Osborn, debated the integrity of ESPN.com’s headline Monday morning.

All three individuals agreed that there is nothing wrong with any story about Clark including information about his criminal background. The debate was whether using the word “attack” was a cheap shot at Clark.

“It never would have even dawned on me,” Salk said of the interaction between Clark and Rivers. “So I was surprised that it generated that sort of reaction… I never even noticed it.”

Huard, a former NFL quarterback, said the story was without merit, since he believes Rivers instigated the kerfuffle, with Clark reacting and Chargers offensive lineman King Dunlap ultimately stepping in – and receiving an unnecessary roughness penalty.

“I think this is an unjust headline as well, that he ‘attacks,'” Huard said. “(Clark) was not attacking. Philip Rivers was the instigator and Clark responded.”

Osborn called for ESPN.com to redact the word from its headline. In a search through ESPN.com’s database, Osborn said he found 1,200 articles with the word ‘”attack,” but none of them involved an on-field incident between two players.

“If anyone who searches our archives can send me more than one article that uses the word attack for a defensive lineman sacking a quarterback, then I will recant my issue of asking for a redaction,” Osborn said.

“This ‘staff’ article is using this (incident) to mischaracterize what happens on the field, to conjure up people’s feelings about this guy,” Osborn added.

Salk, who noted that Clark has been “one of the best players” on the team this preseason, backed ESPN.com’s wording, whether it creates an emotional link to Clark’s criminal past or not.

“If you accept the premise that it was Clark – and I don’t know if that’s a true premise or not, but if you were to – then I would at that point have no problem with the word attack,” he said.

“Hey, that’s part of your past,” Salk added. “You’re going to have live with that for a while. You don’t get the benefit of the doubt. That’s kinda how it goes.”

Salk said he has no problem with Clark being on the team and will root for the rookie’s success, but he doesn’t feel the need to defend Clark any time he gets hit with a cheap shot in the public arena.

“I’m not going to rip every journalist who takes a shot,” he said. “That’s gonna happen.”

Huard agreed with Salk’s sentiment.

“Frank better get used to this, because it’s not gonna go away,” he said. “That’s why the veterans are there – (Richard) Sherman and the rest of the guys are going to put their arm around him and say, ‘Listen rook, this is your past, this is your history. The only thing you can do is prove it differently over time and prove that that was some immaturity in the past and a previous mistake, and when they bring it up, be the bigger man.’ Go out there and let your play dictate all of it and this can be a pretty forgiving society.”

The Seahawks were criticized for drafting Clark in the second round considering he faced misdemeanor domestic violence and assault charges stemming from an incident involving a former girlfriend. Clark ultimately plead no contest to a disorderly conduct charge after making an agreement with prosecutors to downgrade the domestic violence charge and dismiss the assault charge.

In a postgame interview Saturday, Clark said he’s an emotional player and that veterans – including Sherman – have told him to avoid those types of situations. Salk wondered whether that comment was an admission that something “weird” went on in the pile.

“He’s admitting that there was some extra-curricular activity, but, once again, (Rivers) had to do most of that,” Huard said. “No. 1, (Rivers) loves to jaw, loves to talk. He’s holding on to Frank. I think he was trying to instigate and try to get Frank to punch and get Frank to do something to gain that penalty. He didn’t. I don’t know what Frank Clark could have done.”

Although unfair, Huard believes the headline writer did his or her job well.

“When I read that, I just kind of went, ‘You sneaky little suckers – I know exactly what you are trying to do with this little headline,'” he said. “You are doing what a (headline writer’s) job is to do: Elicit a reaction.”

The hosts noted that this type of conversation never came up when Clark threw a punch at a teammate during practice on Aug. 11. The issue only came up because the Chargers essentially called him a dirty player.

“This should be a non-story,” Huard said. “What we watched in practice was infinitely more of an attack than that was. That was a joke show. That was Philip talking some smack to him; him not backing down. Him drawing a 15-yard penalty and doing exactly what I want to see him do and instigate all season long.”