57 days until Michigan football: Frank Clark third all time in NFL postseason sacks
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
With 57 days until Michigan football, we take a look back at one of the top No. 57s to wear the winged helmet in defensive end Frank Clark.
Clark, of course, is a controversial figure in Ann Arbor. He was arrested for domestic violence in 2014 and eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a deal with prosecutors. Following the arrest, Michigan head coach Brady Hoke dismissed him from the team.
Before that, though, Clark was a standout for Michigan. Since then, he’s been a highly-productive NFL player, which we’ll discuss later.
Clark has always been disruptive. He logged 2 sacks and 9 TFLs in 2012, his sophomore season, 5 sacks and 12.5 TFLs in 2013 and 4 sacks and 13 TFLs in 2014 (in 10 games, before being dismissed from the team).
One of his top highlights came at Ohio State in 2012, in what was a great first half for a Michigan team that held a 21-20 lead at the break. The Wolverines then didn’t cross the 50-yard line in the second half, even though the defense held strong by allowing only six points, and the team fell, 26-21.
Here’s Clark’s bone-crushing hit on Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller:
Clark is now entering his ninth NFL season and has joined his third franchise, the Denver Broncos, after beginning with the Seattle Seahawks and making most of his noise with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning two Super Bowls.
Through eight years, Clark has racked up a whopping 58.5 sacks and 67 tackles for loss in the regular season. Even more impressive, though, is his numbers in the playoffs.
Clark has 13.5 sacks in the postseason, the third-most in NFL history behind former New England Patriots outside linebacker Willie McGinest and former Buffalo Bills defensive end Bruce Smith. Clark recorded 2.5 sacks in the 2022 playoffs (as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, helping the team to a Super Bowl victory), passing former Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals and Chiefs outside linebacker Terrell Suggs. It took Clark 16 playoff games to reach the number.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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