Chiefs news: Frank Clark talks about playing through pain
By Matt Conner
Frank Clark says he wasn’t even cleared to play football and yet he led the defensive charge during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run.
Frank Clark will forever be known as a postseason hero for the Kansas City Chiefs after such an incredible run of sustained production for the last four years at Arrowhead.
Clark is third all-time on the league’s postseason sack list with 12 and is definitely the Chiefs’ franchise leader in the same, and the man known as Shark earned a strong reputation for coming up big when it counted the most.
While a lot of Chiefs Kingdom likely realized that Clark was often playing through pain or serious issues, especially with a stomach illness or condition that often flared up, Clark took to Twitter on Wednesday to discuss how he played through even more issues than anyone ever realized at the time.
During the team’s Super Bowl run in 2019, Clark posted on social media that he wasn’t even cleared to play football at the time:
Wasn’t even cleared to play football after that Pinch nerve in my neck in ‘19. I flew back from seeing doc in LA and told the chiefs I would finish the season while telling the world we would win the super bowl.
— Frank Clark (@TheRealFrankC_) March 15, 2023
There are a lot of layers to this, the most positive of which would be to point out that Clark is tougher than anyone ever knew, but most fans would have already termed him as “tough” before knowing this. Beyond that, however, it’s also concerning—or not something to be celebrated—because serious physical issues could plague him long after he’s left the field.
Teams already have issues reporting injuries responsibly and hearing this is likely to spur some sort of investigation by the NFLPA into the Chiefs’ process and what happened here. They should. It’s a serious issue and player safety is paramount over any availability concerns—sorry to say. That said, Clark’s commitment to playing (and winning) is second to none. Let’s hope the wins were worth it in the end for him personally.
Here’s what’s trending in Chiefs news
Chiefs fail to tender Darius Harris (Chiefs Wire)
The Chiefs offered tenders to their other restricted free agents, but they’re going to let linebacker Darius Harris walk free without even wanting the right of first refusal. That means we’re likely to see a new investment at the position to help back up the young trio of Willie Gay, Nick Bolton, and Leo Chenal.
Orlando Brown Jr. remains confident in ‘NFL Live’ appearance (AP)
Over at Arrowhead Pride, they covered a recent interview with Orlando Brown Jr. in which he discusses his free agency and remained confident in the face of a lack of buzz.