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Seahawks’ Frank Clark takes responsibility, apologizes for fight with Germain Ifedi

Frank Clark
Seattle Seahawks defensive line coach Travis Jones, right, goes over a drill with rookie defensive end Frank Clark in the first day of rookie camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Friday, May 8, 2015, in Renton, wash. NFL FOOTBALL - SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ROOKIE MINICAMP - VIRGINIA MASON ATHLETIC CENTER - 147044 - 050815

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark spoke on Wednesday about a training camp fight where he punched teammate Germain Ifedi.

In his comments, Clark accepted responsibility for what happened, noting that he was temporarily selfish.

“It was a heat of the moment thing,” Clark said, via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN. “I let my emotions overcome the situation. For a brief moment, I thought that myself, that I was bigger than the team in all regards. I thought about myself first before I thought about my defense as a whole and my defensive line, to be more specific. Because it was a one-on-one drill. And that was basically it. It was an overheated thing. We always get heated up. It’s O-Line, D-Line. It’s supposed to happen. But it just got taken too far.”

Clark also said that he apologized to Ifedi, as well as the team.

Generally speaking, training camp fights aren’t much to speak of. It’s never ideal to see a couple of teammates throwing punches at each other, but it happens every year in training camps around the league.

This situation, however, is different in a few regards.

One, Clark has been accused of violence in his past. The most troubling have been off the field domestic violence allegations, but he’s been accused of letting that show on the field, too. Normally, training camp fights are exactly like Clark said. A few guys, both competing for a job, going a little too far. Most players in the NFL deserve a slap on the wrist for that without even thinking twice. But it’s hard to give someone with Clark’s past any benefit of the doubt.

The other problem is that Ifedi was not wearing a helmet. Generally speaking, serious injuries are avoided in football fights. As big and strong as the players are, they’re also all padded and wearing helmets. But Ifedi missed three days of practice as a result of the fight. Clark is a 6-foot-3, 260-pound professional athlete, after all. Unprotected punches from men that big and athletic are going to hurt.

Clark said the right thing on Wednesday. But Seattle (and the NFL, in general) can’t let his act stand for much longer. He has to be pretty close to facing serious disciplinary actions for whatever his next offense is.

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