Seahawks' Frank Clark Bloodied His Own Right Tackle In His Second Training Camp Altercation Of The Week

Frank Clark involved in first camp dustup with #Seahawks in shoulder pads. Looked like he kept plowing into Luke Joeckel. #Seahawks

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 1, 2017

Frank Clark's flying punch bloodying Germain Ifedi gives rookie Ethan Pocic his 1st time as starting RT is team scrimmaging. #Seahawks

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 3, 2017

Ifedi to locker room with doctors after getting punched in face with helmet off during skirmish. #Seahawks

— Aaron Levine (@AaronQ13Fox) August 3, 2017

Fight at #Seahawks practice, Joeckel & Bennett had be restrained and Germain Ifedi is down bloodied and walking off field. pic.twitter.com/aweVi2P2Ht

— Bryan Mapes (@IAmMapes) August 3, 2017

A lot of people are going to treat this news as further proof that Frank Clark is a loose cannon and can't be trusted to control his emotions or regulate his rage, but can we at least give the guy a little credit for firing at more appropriate targets. Jumping in the air to punch your defenseless teammate directly in face like you're going for the fatality in 'Mortal Kombat' probably wasn't the wisest of decisions, but it doesn't seem all that unforgivable relative to the rest of his track record. I think what people need to realize is that the player in question - despite being a professional athlete in his mid-20's - is basically an overgrown kid. If you view him as the man-child that he is then it's pretty commendable that he took his scolding literally when people told him to pick on someone his own size. There's still some work to be done since he's still tip-toeing the thin line between "competitive frustration" and "assault", but he's come a long way from beating up his girlfriend and publicly threatening any female that reported on it...

writing about domestic violence is fun and risk free pic.twitter.com/XGqCQ6RvNQ

— Natalie Weiner (@natalieweiner) May 10, 2017

Keeping his misconduct in-house might merely - and ironically - be a baby step in the right direction, but isn't that the best we could have hoped for from a guy whose proven to have the unpredictable temperament of an toddler. It might not seem like someone who just interrupted practice by bloodying his own teammate has made progress in channeling his aggression. However - considering this story probably won't make the nightly news outside of Seattle - I think he's done a hell of a job cutting the cable, so to speak,  on criminal activity that can't be considered an occupational hazard. He might be a danger to the ever-combustable chemistry of the Seahawks locker room, but that's an improvement from being a danger to society! Honestly, any transgression that doesn't require him to publicly apologize is a 'W' in my book, because he might be worse at sounding genuinely remorseful than he is at improving his reputation...

Apologize to anyone who felt offended by my tweet earlier. We gotta do better supporting these major issues we face in this world.

— Frank Clark (@TheRealFrankC_) May 10, 2017