Two former teammates have been reunited on the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason. Frank Clark and Taco Charlton spent two seasons together (2013-2014) at the University of Michigan. Now, they’ll play on the same defensive line once again for the Chiefs. The two players were close then and they’ve grown even closer now.
Clark took to Twitter shortly after Charlton signed with Kansas City, and he wasn’t joking when he promised Charlton will be a legend. In fact, Clark wants to continue to groom Charlton and help him reach his potential with the Chiefs. He wants the people who doubt Charlton to know he’ll be held to the highest standard under his watch in Kansas City.
“I feel like a lot of people are doubting Taco,” Clark told reporters on Wednesday. “And for the first part of his career, it hasn’t been to the standard that I’m sure he would want it to be. He’s had some great highlights and he’s done some good things in this league, but he has yet to do what I know he wants to do. Me and him being close friends we have a lot of talks and we talk about a lot of things and he’s been my bro since Michigan days. I spent a significant amount of time with him there. Actually, I call myself a leader and everything I’ve done. At Michigan, I made a lot of mistakes but on that football field, I did my share of leading those guys. One thing I did in that position room was changed the way the position was being played, the rush in, and Taco followed suit. He listens and he does great things. I’m just excited. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do. Like I said, I want to turn him into a legend. First, just show him my work ethic. Show him how we do things with the Chiefs. It’s a certain standard that Coach Reid has us mounted to. There are certain things that you have to be able to live up to here. We’re the champs. We’re defending our ring and there’s going to be some standards that he has to live up to coming into that room.”
That bond formed between Clark and Charlton at Michigan is strong. He blazed the trail at Michigan and helped shape Charlton’s football ability. Their connection is very clearly one of the reasons that Charlton chose to join the Chiefs.
“Me and Frank, we’re real close,” Charlton said of his relationship with Clark. “Like my brother, like my big brother. He’s a person who at Michigan, he kind of took me under his wing and guided me. We continue that friendship and brotherhood whenever he left. We talk all the time. When I come to LA, I’m usually with him, or I go see him, link up with him, whatever it may be. We try to train with each other sometime during the offseason or see each other, whatever it may be. Our friendship, our brotherhood has always been there. We always used to joke around about us playing with each other again if we had the opportunity. So now we have the opportunity to play with each other again and do something special. I definitely was on board with that and like I said, I’m excited.”
That mentor-type role that Clark plays should provide Charlton with a nice advantage this offseason. Just as Charlton says, the pair will have a chance to do something special in Kansas City this season. That new energy and excitement that both players have should serve as a springboard for some new life on the defensive line.
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