Former University of Michigan defensive lineman Frank Clark was arrested for charges of domestic violence after two women found Clark's then-girlfriend unconscious on the bathroom floor of a Sandusky, Ohio hotel room.
Clark's new NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks, don't seem to care all that much.
According to a report from Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times, the Seahawks and GM John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll failed to investigate fully the incident which led to Clark's arrest.
"But the Seahawks made him the 63rd overall pick in the draft, saying team officials had conducted an extensive investigation of their own and felt confident that the 6-foot-2, 277-pound Clark had not struck his girlfriend," writes Baker. "The team acknowledged on Monday that their investigation did not include interviews with witnesses other than Clark."
Lis Babson and Kristie Collie barged into Clark's hotel room after hearing "banging, yelling and screaming" only to find Diamond Hurt, Clark's then-girlfriend, semi-conscious on the floor.
A police report emerged after the incident, which quotes Hurt as saying that Clark punched her in the face. Hurt's younger brothers, who were in the room with the couple at the time, corroborated her account.
Oddly, Babson and Collie claim police never contacted them again after giving their initial statements.
Clark was subsequently dismissed from the Michigan football team two days after the arrest.
While Clark was initially charged with two first-degree misdemeanors for domestic violence and assault, he agreed recently to a reduced charge of persistent disorderly conduct.
"He was given a $250 fine, received no further jail time beyond two days already served and won't have a domestic-violence conviction on his record," writes Baker. "Police and prosecutors could not be reached Monday to explain why Clark was offered a plea deal, or to detail the extent of any follow-up investigation."
Schneider has maintained that Clark did not strike his girlfriend and that if he had, he would not have been on the team's draft board.
In the wake of reports that they had no interviewed any of the witnesses in the case, the Seahawks released a statement saying they had conducted "confidential interviews with people directly involved with the case," though the statement added that the team did not "speak directly to any witnesses from that night."
As HNGN explored just yesterday in connection with the Dallas Cowboys, talent will always trump transgressions - even egregious ones - in the NFL. The Seahawks oversight - whether intentional or otherwise - in regards to investigating this incident, continues a disturbing league-wide trend that places an emphasis on ability over character.
Clark, like Greg Hardy and Ray Rice, may be a man willing to strike a woman in the heat of the moment, but he's also a great football player, meaning that to NFL teams his on-field impact is well worth the damnable warts that come along with it.
