RENTON — For the first time in six drafts under Pete Carroll and John Schneider, the Seahawks packaged several picks to make a big move up in a draft, sending four picks to Washington in order to draft Kansas State receiver Tyler Lockett early in the third round.
That was not the big risk the Seahawks took Friday.
The Seahawks have “reached” with first-round picks; they’ve picked a too-short quarterback in the third round when most people assumed they had already signed their starter in free agency; they’ve twice traded away first-rounders hoping to land a playmaker, striking out once already, but the biggest gamble on Carroll and Schneider’s Seattle resumes is now Frank Clark, a defensive end from Michigan whom the Seahawks drafted Friday in the second round.
Clark is a big, athletic pass rusher, one of the most coveted commodities in the NFL, so on the one hand it makes perfect sense for the Seahawks to make him their first pick in this draft. But Clark is also someone who in November was arrested for domestic violence following an incident involving his girlfriend in a Sandusky, Ohio, hotel room, and who subsequently was kicked off Michigan’s football team.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in September that he had an “elevated awareness” about domestic violence after video surfaced of former Baltimore star Ray Rice punching his fiancé in an elevator. That video and other high-profile cases have made domestic violence the hot-button issue in the NFL, yet less than a year later, the Seahawks used their top pick on somebody accused of a similar crime.
The Seahawks believe in Clark, but they are also very aware of the perception of this pick, which is why Schneider opened his remarks Friday with a written statement, something he has never done following a draft.
“Our organization has an in-depth understanding of Frank Clark’s situation and background,” Schneider said. “We have done a ton of research on this young man. There hasn’t been one player in this draft we have spent more time researching and scrutinizing more than Frank.”
The police report is ugly, to be sure, but Clark’s more serious charges were dismissed, and he pleaded guilty to a charge of persistent disorderly conduct, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. And when Schneider was reminded that he once said that a player putting his hands on a woman was a deal-breaker, he quickly replied, “It still is. I can’t get into the specifics of Frank’s case, but that is still a deal-breaker for us and will continue to be going forward.”
Schneider went further, saying that based on the information the team dug up, which included the victim corroborating Clark’s version of the story, that he doesn’t believe Clark put his hands on his girlfriend.
“I would say there’s always two sides to a story and you have to go through the whole thing,” Schneider said, “you can’t just go with one police report.”
All of that being said, however, the Seahawks know this pick will look bad to a lot of their fans. At the very least Clark was in a bad situation that turned violent enough to get him arrested, and he also stole a laptop as a freshman at Michigan. Whatever did or did not happen in that hotel room, Clark has a short leash with Seattle.
“He’s got to toe the line and do a great job in the program,” Carroll said.
And regardless of what did or did not happen, Clark has a lot of work to do to prove himself to a new team and new fan base that will be slow to embrace him.
“Like I tell everybody, you get to know me, Frank’s not an angry guy, the only time he’s angry is on the field,” Clark said. “… All the fans, I just want everyone to have faith in me. Give me a couple of years and believe in me, and I promise you, I’m saying it right now, I promise they won’t be upset.”
Clark may end up being a model citizen in Seattle, and the Seahawks certainly hope he’ll be a great player, but for now, this pick will go down as the biggest risk of Carroll and Schneider’s tenure in Seattle. Carroll and Schneider have both preached taking the high road on domestic violence in the past. By drafting Clark with their first pick Friday, they’re betting their reputations that he is better than the baggage that will follow him from Michigan to the NFL.
Herald Columnist John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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