Frank Clark “played the whole season at 60 percent” in career-best 2018

Scrolling through Twitter on Tuesday, a stream of Frank Clark’s tweets dominated the timeline. This was the most eye-catching:

Wait.

Hang on a second.

In a 13-sack, career-best year, Frank Clark was only 60 percent!?

No kidding Frank.

To have a UCL reconstructed is otherwise known as Tommy John surgery. Clark missed zero games in 2018, leaving both UCLs torn. This is ridiculous. He was basically playing without elbows in 2018:

Clark has missed zero games as a Seattle Seahawk and has still played with frightening raw power. Combined with his blistering get-off speed, it makes him a lethal edge rusher. The fact he’s still been dangerous rushing the passer despite injury is testament to his adaptability.

In 2017, Clark broke his hand. As a result, he developed a spin move to beat offensive linemen:

Austin Gayle of Pro Football Focus tweeted a cut-up of the skill:

Clark had an 8.7 pressure rate which ranked 7^th among EDGEs according to Pro Football Focus (minimum 20% of snaps). His total of 64 pressures tied for 10^th in the league. Clark’s 10 tackles for loss were only behind Jarran Reed’s team-high 12. All this production was despite injury, and despite Reed being the only other consistent pass-rush threat on the Seahawks.

Imagine what Clark could do fully healthy!

Clark even suited up for the Week 5 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams despite being “sick as a dog” according to Pete Carroll. Clark was so ill, presumably from food poisoning, that he was hospitalized the Friday before the game. He played 54 of 66 defensive snaps and balled out with an interception, a tackle-for-loss and a strip sack the NFL should have credited him for.

Remember, also, the deeply sad beginning to Clark’s 2018. Clark lost his father and three other family members in an arson fire on January 30:

After he played “sick as a dog” against the Rams, Clark reflected on his decision to play:

“I looked at my boys, I looked at the people I’ve lost in my past—losing my father, I lost my father in a fire, you know what I’m saying? At the end of the day, nothing I go through is going to be harder than that, and that’s how I look at this football stuff. I can go through anything in life, but it’s not going to challenge me like that challenged me, so at the end of the day, me being in the hospital or not, me not being able to practice, I didn’t look at that as an excuse for me not to go out there and get the job done on my side and to do what I had to do to be there for my teammates.”

Frank Clark has played through everything for Seattle. His competitive spirit embodies what Pete Carroll wants from a Seahawk. Now it’s time to pay the pass rusher. He’s only going to get better.