Frank Clark Accused of Attacking Philip Rivers

[olyfan63]

Clark tagged Rivers in the head, probably enough that it could have been called by officials. It didn't look incidental to me. It wasn't a heavy hit, but it wasn't just brushing his helmet either. Rivers then pulls him back in by the jersey, probably because he was pissed off about his head getting pushed. Nobody looks good on this one.

As mentioned, the shove to the helmet was chain reaction to being shoved from behind by the center.

As mentioned, Clark put his forearm into Rivers' helmet in a way that isn't consistent with trying to maintain his balance. Not that excuses what Rivers or his lineman from their actions.

In the longer YouTube video, right at 6 seconds, as Frank Clark is flying on/over Rivers, he does stick his right hand onto the forehead of Rivers helmet and give it a shove into the turf. Rivers immediately grabs Clark's jersey, and pulls him back. I lip-read Rivers saying, "Not so fast, rookie PUNK. Do you know who you're messing with? You pull crap like that, sneaky head hits, and my linemen will take out your knees. And every time you're in a pile your testicles will get grabbed and ripped. Any more of that stuff and you're walking away female. "
OK, so not actual lip-reading, but I expect it was something close to that.

I would agree that the little shove of Rivers' helmet did not appear to be necessary to Clark landing safely/maintaining balance. Keep in mind that as this is occurring, Clark is also being *tackled from behind* by #65, Center Chris Watt, the OL he just torched. #65 Watt only lets go of Clark when he realizes *both* of them will fall on top of Rivers if he hangs on.

I think Clark was a little angry about being HELD/tackled from behind (D-Lineman have been known to get emotional about this). To me it looks like, at 6 seconds, he did give Rivers helmet a heat-of-the-moment "disguised", not-absolutely-necessary push on the way past.

Scorers elected to give 100% credit for the sack to Jordan Hill, #97, who did appear to have Rivers wrapped up and on the way to the ground just at the moment Clark arrived.

 

[olyfan63]

Has anyone mentioned Rivers kicking his legs as he grabs Clark?
Tantrum much?

Rivers does put his knees up to protect himself as he goes to the ground, trying to ensure Clark flies OVER him rather than landing ON him. Right after the moment when Clark shoves his head and as Rivers grabs his jersey, Rivers does do a funny little kick or two, probably trying to generate leverage to pull Clark back, not to mention get up, turn over, etc. It's a little hard to generate leverage when your whole lower body is still up in the air like Rivers was.

 

[McGruff]

First of all, both Clark and Hill annihilated their linemen that play. THose two inside with Avril, Bennett and Bruce coming from the outside is just freakin' scary.

Clark did nothing wrong to my eye. I suspect he's got a little bit of young Richard Sherman/Dennis Rodman in him where his vocal chippiness and physical style is going to get under the skin of a lot of opposing players. Once you can get in their heads, the game is pretty much over.

 

[McGruff]

Clark tagged Rivers in the head, probably enough that it could have been called by officials. It didn't look incidental to me. It wasn't a heavy hit, but it wasn't just brushing his helmet either. Rivers then pulls him back in by the jersey, probably because he was pissed off about his head getting pushed. Nobody looks good on this one.

As mentioned, the shove to the helmet was chain reaction to being shoved from behind by the center.

As mentioned, Clark put his forearm into Rivers' helmet in a way that isn't consistent with trying to maintain his balance. Not that excuses what Rivers or his lineman from their actions.

In the longer YouTube video, right at 6 seconds, as Frank Clark is flying on/over Rivers, he does stick his right hand onto the forehead of Rivers helmet and give it a shove into the turf. Rivers immediately grabs Clark's jersey, and pulls him back. I lip-read Rivers saying, "Not so fast, rookie PUNK. Do you know who you're messing with? You pull crap like that, sneaky head hits, and my linemen will take out your knees. And every time you're in a pile your testicles will get grabbed and ripped. Any more of that stuff and you're walking away female. "
OK, so not actual lip-reading, but I expect it was something close to that.

I would agree that the little shove of Rivers' helmet did not appear to be necessary to Clark landing safely/maintaining balance. Keep in mind that as this is occurring, Clark is also being *tackled from behind* by #65, Center Chris Watt, the OL he just torched. #65 Watt only lets go of Clark when he realizes *both* of them will fall on top of Rivers if he hangs on.

I think Clark was a little angry about being HELD/tackled from behind (D-Lineman have been known to get emotional about this). To me it looks like, at 6 seconds, he did give Rivers helmet a heat-of-the-moment "disguised", not-absolutely-necessary push on the way past.

Scorers elected to give 100% credit for the sack to Jordan Hill, #97, who did appear to have Rivers wrapped up and on the way to the ground just at the moment Clark arrived.

I see a little bit of a push to the head by Clark, but the guy most flagrant of ours on that play is Irvin, who isn't him on the sack but does appears to take a drive by swing at River's head as he drives by the pile. I suspect that is what River's is reacting to more than anything.

Looking at it super slow River's actually gets "touched" on the head three times (none are flagrant or hard enough to call a hit or a blow) . . . First by Irvin's hand, then by Frank's hand, and finally by Frank's knee as he tries to get up. At that point River's grabs him.

 

[olyfan63]

Nice catch about Irvin's little shove to Rivers' head. That appears like it could be the most significant "shot" Rivers took, and the reason for him to be angry; he may have thought Clark had hit him twice in the head in going to the ground.

I can't really see Clark's knee getting any action in on Rivers; if anything, it looks like Clark went out of his way to avoid contacting Rivers with his legs, while trying to land safely himself.

Isn't it remarkable how many little things can go on that you have to look hard to see on video? And in looking for what Clark did, it's so easy to not notice what Irvin does. Plus, so much of the video can be inconclusive about what really happened.

 

[Rainger]

The play and what happened is irrelevant. The worst part is the press trying to use this incident to bring up his past and paint him as a bad guy. They are wanting to find anything to show him as a bad guy because of the previous DV. They wont let it alone.ever. That is why I hate the media.

 

[253hawk]

Irvin was just trying to punch the ball out while Rivers was stood up in the pile and holding it against his chest.

 

[CHawks4L]

A lot of you are big time conspiracy theorists.. it was a football play, one play of many physical plays in one game. Clark did what he was supposed to do, he tried to move on and get ready for the next play. IMO, Rivers just got his ass handed to him and tied to make the only play he could and attempt to draw a flag. Vet move by a heady QB, good move by rookie to move on.

Only reason it's being discussed is because of Clark's DV incident. If this were Mebane in question, headlines wouldn't generate clicks.

 

[xgeoff]

Clark tagged Rivers in the head, probably enough that it could have been called by officials. It didn't look incidental to me. It wasn't a heavy hit, but it wasn't just brushing his helmet either. Rivers then pulls him back in by the jersey, probably because he was pissed off about his head getting pushed. Nobody looks good on this one.

I don't know what you're talking about. I see a bull rush back into Rivers and he goes down. It is called a 'sack'. It is, coincidentally, why we drafted this young man. I am sure Rivers didn't appreciate having his lineman thrown back in his face and ending up at the bottom of a pile, but he acted like an idiot by grabbing Clark's jersey and making something out of nothing.

 

[xgeoff]

Here is an actual full, useful video of what happened. The GIF in this thread starts too late.

Basically, Frank Clark pushes his O-Lineman right through Rivers, with the result that Clark incidentally lands on/slides over Rivers as the conclusion of the sack. I don't see anything "dirty" here, just Clark overpowering, frankly embarrassing, the SD O-Lineman. I can see why Rivers felt he was getting "piled on" by Clark. Rivers purposely then grabs Clark's jersey and pulls Clark back in, to cause a scene, instigate a confrontation, and probably to bark at Clark.

The SD linemen are so embarrassed by Clark shoving them around that it's clearly maddening to them.

[youtube]CHCrwAujWEE[/youtube]

I would encourage all of you to go watch this video full screen on youtube at .25 speed. Clark pushes the center (Chris Watt) about 5 yards backwards like a boss and right into Rivers (Masterful!) at which point Watt (trying to recover) shoves Clark from the ass right over the top of Rivers! That's when Rivers reaches up and grabs a handful of Clark's jersey and the scrum ensued.

Frank, if your reading this, you just keep doing what your doing man!!!

Exactly, this says everything anybody needs to know about this play.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Rivers is an uber competitive guy that has a lot of fun on the field. He doesn't do stuff like this unprovoked. I'm 100% certain that Clark took some cheap shots we can't see and probably said some stupid things as well. IMO it is only a matter of time before this idiot does something really bad.

:roll: :roll:

Yeah, it is one of the worst posts ever written

Give Tical a break, he is just defending his favorite fantasy league QB. :sarcasm_off:

 

[bmorepunk]

A lot of you are big time conspiracy theorists..

What?

Clark tagged Rivers in the head, probably enough that it could have been called by officials. It didn't look incidental to me. It wasn't a heavy hit, but it wasn't just brushing his helmet either. Rivers then pulls him back in by the jersey, probably because he was pissed off about his head getting pushed. Nobody looks good on this one.

I don't know what you're talking about. I see a bull rush back into Rivers and he goes down. It is called a 'sack'. It is, coincidentally, why we drafted this young man. I am sure Rivers didn't appreciate having his lineman thrown back in his face and ending up at the bottom of a pile, but he acted like an idiot by grabbing Clark's jersey and making something out of nothing.

We can certainly agree on that.

 

[Bryan]

I'm taking a different point of view on this non-story - I'm ECSTATIC we drafted a "dirty bird". (off the field shenanigans aside). I want my Frank Clarks, my Bruce Irvins, my Earl Thomases (?!), Romanowskis, Haleys, etc. Guys that are gonna bring pain, mess with the oppositions head, and physically dominate. We as both a city and a team were wimpy for decades. Let's embrace the hate, people. Cmon, the biggest sports stars in our town were all jerks, see my avatar for an example.

 

[bmorepunk]

I'm taking a different point of view on this non-story - I'm ECSTATIC we drafted a "dirty bird". (off the field shenanigans aside). I want my Frank Clarks, my Bruce Irvins, my Earl Thomases (?!), Romanowskis, Haleys, etc. Guys that are gonna bring pain, mess with the oppositions head, and physically dominate. We as both a city and a team were wimpy for decades. Let's embrace the hate, people. Cmon, the biggest sports stars in our town were all jerks, see my avatar for an example.

I don't think there's much complaint about the Breno behavior. If Clark can play mean and get players on other teams to earn penalties and not earn them himself he's doing a good job. But acting like what Clark did was completely innocent was silly. People would be flipping out on this board if the same thing happened to Wilson, particularly if it were a Ram doing it.

 

[Seafan]

I'm taking a different point of view on this non-story - I'm ECSTATIC we drafted a "dirty bird". (off the field shenanigans aside). I want my Frank Clarks, my Bruce Irvins, my Earl Thomases (?!), Romanowskis, Haleys, etc. Guys that are gonna bring pain, mess with the oppositions head, and physically dominate. We as both a city and a team were wimpy for decades. Let's embrace the hate, people. Cmon, the biggest sports stars in our town were all jerks, see my avatar for an example.

I'm reminded by your post of Xavier McDaniel. Loved that guy. Frank Clark is not only athletic but strong as an ox. Without Kam this team needs an enforcer on defense. I don't see this guy being dirty but just a legit wood layer and the more he's on the field the better. Kam excites the fans and his team mates. Clark will too.

 

[two dog]

Rivers is an uber competitive guy that has a lot of fun on the field. He doesn't do stuff like this unprovoked. I'm 100% certain that Clark took some cheap shots we can't see and probably said some stupid things as well. IMO it is only a matter of time before this idiot does something really bad.

100% Certain, huh ? I love the pronouncements of people who are 100% certain.

I myself am not blessed with such certitude, especially regarding what happens
in a pile on a football field in a stadium where I am not present.

 

[Team Patera]

Waaaaah Cry me a river Phyllis

Sigh...Phyllis.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Dana and Phyllis, sitting in a tree....

(oh boy, I'm gonna' pay for that one)

 

[bigskydoc]

I don't particularly care about exactly what happened before the whistle, but I loved what I saw from Clark after the whistle.

For a rook in a preseason game to keep his head about him and draw the penalty. Wow!

Reminds me a bit of Scott Stevens who used to play defense for the NJ Devils. The guy was a master at goading opponents, getting under their skin, then getting them to take penalties at the most inopportune times, usually after a particularly vicious, but legal, hit.

I would love to have one of "those guys" on our defense.

- bsd

 

[olyfan63]

For a rook in a preseason game to keep his head about him and draw the penalty. Wow!
- bsd

Excellent point! Clark acted very composed. An ordinary dumb hothead would have gone after Dunlap and drawn an offsetting penalty. Clark increasingly strikes me as a smart guy and very, very football-smart.