Frank Clark meeting with NFL teams

Submitted by The Mad Hatter on April 28th, 2015 at 9:23 AM

Clark has talked with Coach Harbaugh about how to avoid "problematic" situations in the future. The article has a lot of background info, but does include some new information from Clark himself. He seems to be pretty contrite.

I wish him well in life.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/04/frank_clark.html

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HarbaughorBust

April 28th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^

Hope he turns his life around.

With that being said, I'm also glad he has graduated. These cancers have no place on the team and we've had far too many of them lately.

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The Mad Hatter

April 28th, 2015 at 9:33 AM ^

he has 15 credits left to go, and is going to complete them after he's drafted.

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HarbaughorBust

April 28th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^

I should have said "Used up his eligibility" instead of graduated.

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Grbac2Howard

April 28th, 2015 at 6:01 PM ^

I hope he's sincere, but his time with us was an embarrassment.

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LivingTheGoodLife

April 28th, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^

How about: play football, be a family man, don't drink too much, don't do drugs, don't do illigal things. AND STAY AWAY FROM GANGS! It's really not that hard.

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Kapitan Howard

April 28th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^

You must be very smart.

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RockinLoud

April 28th, 2015 at 9:56 AM ^

It CAN be hard if that's the only way of life you knew up until college.

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Yostbound and Down

April 28th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^

Please tell us how he's supposed to STAY AWAY FROM GANGS when he's born in a gang neighborhood? Or drugs when his mom was a user?

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The Mad Hatter

April 28th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^

that I had a lot more empathy for the guy once I found out how he grew up. He's lucky to be alive. Put into a similar situation, most people would have turned out a lot worse than Mr. Clark.

Also, there's nothing wrong with drugs and alcohol. All things in moderation.

Except football.

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CorkyCole

April 28th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^

It's not difficult at all for most of us, but for some of us it's not quite so simple. It's easy to think logically in your own mind, but for some logic is misconstrued and addictions and psychological differences make it difficult for them to make positive life choices on a consistent basis. You do realize that ONE poor decision resulted in these consequences. One bad day. One terrible decision. There may have been another incident in the past, but this is the choice that resulted in him being dismissed. I may not struggle with a violent past where it is difficult to control my "violent" behaviors, but I do have my own daily battles because of both my encounters and poor past decisions. It doesn't matter what society perceives those battles as in comparison to others struggles, it is still a psychological battle to deal with those struggles and not falter. I imagine it is the same for most of us - we have our evils and things we try to improve upon ourselves every day. Last thing I will say is that the best thing you can do when you do make those big mistakes is not only learn from them but teach others about how to avoid those situations and how to be more aware of those things - if you help prevent one person from making those same mistakes, then you have turned a negative into a positive. I am glad to see that Frank Clark has started this process. End of book.

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MrSmith

April 28th, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^

I agree with all your statements. It is just how others are raised and brought up in different type of environments that was put in tough situations at times.

Frank can come back from this and one thing that doesnt help people is shaming and put downs. If we want to help we need to understand first.

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carlos spicywiener

April 28th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^

Much love Vince

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BlueCube

April 28th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^

Well, other than the obvious problems you had in English.

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State Street

April 28th, 2015 at 9:33 AM ^

"Once the details came out" clubs began to move Clark up their draft boards? Why isn't there zero tolerance for putting your hands on a woman?

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carlos spicywiener

April 28th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^

Because identifying athletic / successful NFL prospects is a multi-million dollar business, and will continue to be one, no matter what they do off the field.

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State Street

April 28th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^

Unless there's video of it*

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Ivan Karamazov

April 28th, 2015 at 9:36 AM ^

Dollar dollar bills y'all.

/s (?)

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Yostbound and Down

April 28th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^

I'm now thinking I need to reread Brothers Karamazov with Danny McBride voicing Ivan in my head.

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The Mad Hatter

April 28th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^

of zero tolerance policies. Every situation is different. And if you're going to have a no violence policy, then that needs to be extended to hitting men, and especially children.

Equality, FTW.

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lilpenny1316

April 28th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^

Pro and college teams use funny math when it comes to zero tolerance. Zero could mean 0, 1, 2, or 3.14159265359

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maize-blue

April 28th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^

Frank Clark performed too well at the combine to not have teams interested. If he can clear up the off field stuff with them he'll be on a team no doubt.

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amaizenblue402

April 28th, 2015 at 9:41 AM ^

IMO, he's not ready for the lifestyle of the NFL. He's ready football wise but he's not mature enough to live the NFL lifestyle. I hope he can stay out of trouble for his sake and for the University's sake.

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Braylon_Edward…

April 28th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^

Delete.

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maizenbluenc

April 28th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^

polished. Clearly he has been coached on this - beyond Hoke and Harbaugh. The key is whether Frank believes and owns what he is saying or not.

I hope he does, and he has really turned a corner (again) in life, finishes his degree, and continues to grow positively.

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Gil From Omaha

April 28th, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^

Good for him. Glad to see him recover.

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pbmd

April 28th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^

Zero tolerance?
Football is a violent sport where the most aggressive and violent people excel.
These athletes will always be prone to off field problems.
There is no "switch" to flip.
Educate, intervene and remove the offenders when futile is the strategy.

Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

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Salinger

April 28th, 2015 at 3:52 PM ^

I see what you are getting at here, but I'm not sure I agree with the no switch to flip logic. Most athletes are not arrested for physical assault. A few are. Just because their job requires a level of violence does not mean they are intrinsically that way off the field.

I'm sure you could find a lot of real family oriented NFL players who would never put their hands on another human being outside of football.

The other stuff you said sounded right, FWIW.

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Gisele

April 28th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^

I could see the Bengals giving him a shot. They kept Burfict out of trouble and really need playmakers on d-line. Personally I wasn't that impressed with Clark when he was on the field this year except a couple quarters.

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Firstbase

April 28th, 2015 at 11:38 AM ^

...but the acid test will be when (likely not "if") he gets his big check from some NFL team whether he will stick to the high character road over time.

It's pretty easy to become contrite when angling for a big contract.

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MichiganMan20

April 28th, 2015 at 12:01 PM ^

He has an NFL skill set. If he can just stay out of trouble than he should have a fine career. I wish him well.

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BlueMD1927

April 28th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^

I'm sorry but to me this seems like Clark trying to appease/appeal to GM's. I don't think he's sorry or regrets what happened one bit other than the position he's now in

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Harlans Haze

April 28th, 2015 at 3:52 PM ^

they always have a few quotes from opposing players on several Michigan players. One opposing OL said something to the effect that Clark had no "go to" move and was too easy to keep out of the game. I watched Clark closely all season, and that was so true. The few impact plays he made seemed to be as a result of a wrong read by an OL or a missed block by an OL or RB. There might have been a couple I missed, but I don't remember a play where Clark actually lined up and beat his man to make an impact play. Athletically, he might be the most gifted DE that Michigan has had since Woodley, but he just hasn't improved much since his freshman year. I don't see that changing in the NFL. NFL scouts would have to see that on film, as well. I'd be shocked if he was drafted in any other fashion other than being a project in the 5th or 6th round.

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