Frank Clark: "The woman took it to another level"
When asked about the November domestic violence incident, Frank Clark appeared to blame the woman:
Clark: "The woman involved took it to another level. It all could have been avoided." He said it was a "shock" when he invited to Combine
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) February 20, 2015
That just sounds horrible.
Mod edit: This is the full quote from this MLive story. There are more words from Clark in the story and I'd encourage everyone to take a look before forming a strong opinion on what he said today. JGB.
I'm just saying it was a conversation between me and one my friends, and the woman involved, she took it to another level that it shouldn't have been taken to. "That's fine. I'm not throwing her under the bus. I'm not saying she did anything wrong. I'm just saying a lot of things that happened in that room that night could have been avoided."
February 20th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^
Double standard not oxymoron
February 20th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
I think that expression fits better.
February 20th, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
He can take responsibility for putting himself in a bad position and reacting badly. That doesn't mean the woman involved didn't start the fight (which, according to her own statement, she apparently did).
Assuming she did initiate the physical violence, what would you expect him to say? I don't think he's obligated to lie to make himself look worse.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
somebody tell him what to say and what not to say at the interviews.
I can just imagine the look on peoples faces around him when he said that.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
with the sentiments of most posters here, but we don't have all the facts here yet. Once they come out, we will all have a better understanding of what happened that night.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
Nothing good can come of it
February 20th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
This is a noteworthy event about a person relevant to the university - why should the thread be deleted? Should we just pretend Frank Clark doesn't exist or never played for Michigan so that a few people won't get upset?
February 20th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
and we discussed it to death when it happened.
I fail to see what more we can discuss that we didn't last fall.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:13 PM ^
It is true that there were many discussions about this when it happened, but aside from a notable few, they managed to go well enough (define that as you will) with only some people wandering into Bolivia / banhammer territory. Obviously, this one is being watched for the same things that those were, but this is different in that it is Clark's NFL combine interview and being asked about the incident. A few people have provided the longer statements made by Clark to reporters with regards to what he told teams in various links throughout the thread too.
If it got to a point where it was a steaming pile of inflammatory posts, that's another thing, so hopefully it doesn't get there.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
February 20th, 2015 at 12:03 PM ^
"I'll take, 'Things A Man Accused of Domestic Violence Should Never Say In Regard To The Woman Involved' for $800, Alex."
February 20th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
I don't care what he really thinks about the whole situation, you don't answer the question like that ever. You can't blame someone else for your actions when you are trying to make it to the NFL! You did it, say something about how you are sorry it all happened and how it will never happen again.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
February 20th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
All the warning signs were there from the beginning. Even when he was in high school, Clark was a bit of a loose cannon. A tiger doesn't lose his stripes.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
playing father figure to the troubled and often fatherless boys he coaches at Glenville. Sometimes they turn out like Troy Smith other times not so much. Sad.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
Yes, people can never be rehabilitated, their emotional and behavioral problems never corrected. So let's just toss out the basis of our criminal justice system and entire societal domains of psychological counseling and therapy.
But if you mean that a tiger has to try to remove his stripes, through therapy, rather than just waiting for them to fall off, then I agree. Otherwise, it's a mindless cliche.
February 20th, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^
People can be changed, but my opinion is that it takes a long time. I don't think guys change a whole lot from the time they're 18 to when they're 21. And I don't think Michigan football should be a halfway house. I think if you look at the guys who got in trouble at Michigan, they have generally been consistent troublemakers and have rarely been able to play their way back to the top.
Clark had lots of red flags as a high schooler, and yes, Michigan took a chance on undersized, under-the-radar defensive end. And they turned him into a pretty good football player. But he was never really a consistent performer, he got in trouble multiple times, and now he's kind of an embarrassment to the university/program.
February 20th, 2015 at 2:28 PM ^
Yeah, if you mean that a tiger does not, and perhaps cannot, lose his stripes between the ages of 18 and 21, then I've got to agree. I know I couldn't at that age. Also, Michigan has taken its fair share of chances in the past several years, with several embarrassing, and even dangerous, outcomes.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:26 PM ^
that's what 18-21 is there for, practically.
I don't disagree that there were some red flags, but that seems like a strange statement.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
Clark is persona non grata in my book. Hope he moves on positively with his life but it appears he hasn't learned much if anything since the incident.
For Clark personally, the Ray Rice situation is bad news for him. No NFL team wants this sort of toxic cloud hanging around their team for an elite RB, let alone a 3rd round pick who needs a better PR agent.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
Has your icon been through the proper vetting by the Google police yet?
February 20th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
btw does Duke and Duke know you post here?
February 20th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
for me and Ophelia.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
Plain and simple.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
I Be like, Dang.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
... sounds like twitter reporter troll trying to get follows and retweets. I want to see the whole conversation/interview before passing judgment on how terrible a thing he said. This may just be a lesson in "Modern Journnalism: The quest for provocative soundbites, and how to avoid giving them."
And this in no way means I'm defending Clark. Guy is dead to me.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
Exactly. There are lots of seemingly smart people in this thread making dumb judgments from an excerpt from an interview molded into a tweet, which is intended to get attention by the tweeter. For all we know, Frank might have followed up "She took it to another level" with, "and she was right to do so." Clark might very well be continuing his reign of idiocy, but we wont know for sure until we hear the whole conversation.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Perhaps more context is helpful?
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/02/former_michigan_de_fr…
February 20th, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
I'm just saying it was a conversation between me and one my friends, and the woman involved, she took it to another level that it shouldn't have been taken to. "That's fine. I'm not throwing her under the bus. I'm not saying she did anything wrong. I'm just saying a lot of things that happened in that room that night could have been avoided."
February 20th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
Yes, please DO NOT THROW HER UNDER THE BUS.
Women should not be thrown under buses.
This...probably should've been a point where he simply chose to not talk.
February 20th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
I feel like this should be added to the OP. Might change your opinion, might not, but it's only fair to post the whole quote and not a snippet extracted to provoke maximum outrage.
February 20th, 2015 at 4:20 PM ^
Whatever you think about Clark's interview, one sentence on Twitter probably isn't going to help create an informed opinion.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:16 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
February 20th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
Wow, just wow. Utterly sickening to read what he said. I wish he would have just kept his mouth shut, he should have been off the team years ago.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:39 PM ^
Abuse a woman or child, and you are a low-life scumbag. Frank Clark is one. Any NFL team that invests in that criminal will be foolish.
February 20th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
will be siphoned away by child support payments. Start your egg timers.
Just another sad example of how we are the sum of our choices, both good and bad.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^