Frank Clark is poised for a bounce-back season with the Kansas City Chiefs, repaying the team’s faith in the veteran pass rusher by bringing him back this offseason. Clark, who had just 4.5 sacks last season (his lowest total since his rookie year), came into training camp looking much better thanks to shedding a few pounds.
How was Clark able to lose weight? A new found determination on his life habits.
“One of the main things is I cut out a lot of red meat. I stopped drinking,” Clark said Saturday. “Alcohol is a big factor in a lot of things as far as weight, that cut, it’s all sugar. So at the end of the day, I quit drinking right after the season, honestly. It was February (when ) I was sick, had stomach problems and gastrointestinal problems.
“Since I’ve stopped drinking I’ve had nothing and it’s starting to make more sense. As I’m going, I’m training, I feel like my body is responding to me. . I’m able to get up. I’m able to work all hours of the day, all hours of the night. That was a commitment I made.”
A key player on the Chiefs’ Super Bowl title run three seasons ago, Clark couldn’t put up the same numbers in Kansas City as he did with the Seattle Seahawks. Clark has 18.5 sacks in his three seasons with the Chiefs, with the number dropping each year.
Clark finished with just 39 pressures last year, but had a pressure time of 3.38 seconds to get to the quarterback — his fastest total since 2018. He also had 17 quarterback hits and 33 hurries, more than last season.
The Chiefs restructured Clark’s contract this offseason as he restructured his contract and took a pay cut in the process. Clark will make just $24.225 million in base salary over the final two years of his deal and has a cap hit of $13.7 million this year (it will increase to $28.675 million next year as the Chiefs release or trade him). can only save $9 million).
Clark wants to stay in Kansas City and made sacrifices to make sure he’s ready to have a big season.
“I love it here. I love Chiefs Kingdom,” Clark said. “Every time I’ve been here, we’ve created something special. Four years later, I love it here. I love my teammates. My guy Chris Jones is one of my best friends. We’ve got unfinished business.
“I feel like last year we left a very sour taste. (We) had high hopes but didn’t meet our goals. (We) didn’t win the AFC Championship, didn’t get back to the Super Bowl. You know how we are, we have high standards here. We want to set the bar high and keep it there.
“And like I said, we left on a sour note. I wanted to come back and end on a good note.”
