What Kansas City Chiefs Defensive end Frank Clark joined the media on Saturday, his first opportunity of the 2022 season, retelling the story of his March meeting with head coach Andy Reid. Clark, who has gone from being a hero of the Super Bowl title race to arguably the most polarizing player on the team, spoke candidly.
“It was resounding, ‘I know the type of player you are. You know the type of player you are. You didn’t show that this season,’ flatly,” Clark recounted. “I get that. Coach Reid, we’re very real. Coach Reid is from East Los Angeles. I’m from South Central. It’s the same thing. Let’s keep it real with each other. We West Coast guys. We’re Los Angeles guys, so I understand, I relate. We relate perfectly well to each other. We both have to work hard. There was nothing easy in life… I came last year, I’m going through what I’m going through, but I still have work to do.
“And I didn’t do my job as I should have, in my opinion, based on my ability. In the opinion of some people, that is average. That is an average year. I watch average players get 5.0 sacks in a year, but by my standard, that’s not good enough. And obviously my coaches, and I appreciate them for that, for holding me to that standard.”
Clark finished the 2021 season with 4.5 sacks, his lowest total since his rookie season in 2015. In three postseason games, he did not get to quarterback once. Many analysts, including myself and others who write here in arrowhead pride — he assumed the Chiefs would move away from Clark’s salary cap for 2022, which would be more than $20 million.
But Clark worked with the Chiefs, take a pay cut to remain a member of the team.
“I like it here. I love Chiefs Kingdom,” said Clark, who signed a five-year, $105 million deal with Kansas City in 2019. “Four years later, I love being here. I love teammates: my boy Chris Jones, one of my best friends. We have unfinished work.
“I feel like last year we left it with a pretty bitter taste: we had high hopes, but we didn’t achieve our goals, we didn’t win the AFC Championship, failed to return to the Super Bowl. You know how we are: we have high standards here. We want to set the bar high and keep it there. Like I said, we left on a sour note and I wanted to come back and end on a good note.”
Clark added that he knew from day one of the offseason that he wanted to stay in Kansas City. Now that he has reported to training camp at St. Joseph for the 2022 season, he sounds like a man with something to prove.
Clark said he was over 260 pounds at the start of last season, and that kept him from being the player he wanted to be.
“That was the heaviest I had been since my third year in the league with Seattle,” Clark said. “I had not been so heavy. I haven’t played below 260. I was playing like 255, 250 for the second half of my career. I just wanted to get back to it. I wanted to feel my feet again. I feel like I wasn’t feeling much in my feet last year. I wasn’t that fast with the ball. I wasn’t that explosive. And it’s obvious: you can watch the movie and see that it weighed much more. I had gut. It was as if I looked careless out there.
“I’m professional. I understand how this goes. So at the end of the day, you have to be presentable in everything you do, and I, as a professional, feel like I need to change my body, I need to change my mindset. [approach] And that’s exactly what I did.”
To do that, Clark said she started eating better by cutting red meat out of her diet. But the most significant change was not drinking alcohol during the offseason.
“Alcohol is a big factor in a lot of things weight-wise,” he said. Everything is sugar. So at the end of the day, I stopped drinking liquor right after the season, honestly. It was like February. I had gotten sick. I’ve been having stomach problems, gastrointestinal problems. I haven’t had any since I stopped drinking liquor. Then it started to make more sense. As I go forward, I am training. I feel that my body responds to me. I can get up, I can exercise at all hours of the day, at all hours of the night. So it was a compromise that I made.”
In practice, it’s easy to see that Clark is noticeably thinner and that has allowed him to train better. The real test will come Monday, when the Chiefs hold their first padded practice, one that will include the defensive line against the full-contact offensive line.
When asked about his aspirations for the 2022 season, Clark simply said that he wants to be the best he can be, and a good teammate for a young room. Clark began that process by taking first-round rookie George Karlaftis under his wing.
All this pointed out, more than the physical impact, Clark’s changes have meant a clear change in his attitude and behavior.
“At some point, you have to grow up,” he admitted. “I have three children. I have children watching me every day. I have a 6-year-old daughter who looks to her father, who looks to me to make the right decisions. I can’t afford to be drunk anywhere, miss hours, miss dates, miss something that’s important, and I have too many important events coming up in my life.”
Observations
You can find Arrowhead Pride Senior Analyst Ron Kopp’s full remarks from Saturday’s practice. here.
Post-practice talk
press conferences
If you can’t see the previous insert (Apple iTunes), Click here. the press conferences are also available on Spotify.
injury report
- Did not practice (due to injury): CB Rashad Fenton (shoulder) OL Lucas Niang (knee) OL Prince Tega Wanogho (leg)
- He left early: TE Jody Fortson (quadruple)
tweet of the day
Our John Dixon compiled everybody from saturday tweets here. Here is the tweet of the day:
I think Harold is right.
quote of the day
Clark, describing first-round rookie George Karlaftis: “George is a drug addict. George is a novice drug addict.
Whats Next?
The Chiefs return to the practice field on Saturday for their third open workout. Practice begins at 9:15 am Arrowhead Time. Here is the full schedule. The team’s defensive backs will be on hand to sign autographs after practice as head coach Andy Reid addresses the media at the podium. It’s also Chiefs Alumni Day.