2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Shawn Clark, TE, Monmouth University

• Name: Shawn Clark 
• Height: 6’8
• Weight: 245
• Position: TE
• College: Monmouth University
• Twitter: @Cl8ar6k

Tell us about your hometown, and what you love most about it?

• I’m from Potsdam, NY, a small town in northern NY on the Canadian border. What I love most about home is that it is a humbling place to live. It’s beautiful, but you have to work hard to make a living, to make ends meet, and that’s where my work ethic comes from. 

List these three in order of importance and why: Film Study, Strength and Conditioning and Practice?

• Film, practice, S&C. Every aspect of football is important in the preparation process, but you have to know what you’re going against, how the other players move, techniques, etc. which puts film first on my list. The mental is just as important if not more important, than the physical aspect of the game. Being able to apply film study to the field is imperative to be a successful player.

What do you worry about, and why?

• Fulfilling my true potential, in both life and on the field. I want to be able to look my family, friends, and supporters in their eyes and be able to say that you can truly do anything you set your mind to. 

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

• Work Ethic

Who is the best player you have ever played against in college?

• Dante Olson LB from Montana, he was every bit as real as he looked on film.

What would your career be if you couldn’t play football? 

• I want to work with special needs children as well as coach. I want to make an impact on others lives in a positive way.

Room, desk and car – which do you clean first?

• Room! you can tell a lot about a man from the way he leaves his room.

If there was a disaster and you could either save three strangers or one family member, which would you choose and why?

• Family memeber. FAMILY Over everything.

If you could be any television or movie character, who would you be and why?

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson! He lives everyday as a SAVAGE! I respect his grind and his character.

Tell me about your biggest adversity in life and how you’ve dealt with or overcome it?

• Moving away from home at 17 to chase a childhood dream. I had to go through many obstacles, hit a lot of speed bumps, made some mistakes. Thankfully, I had a lot of great people in my corner throughout my life, and when I needed guidance or criticism, those people have always been there for me, and motivated me to keep pushing no matter how hard things get.

What is your most embarrassing moment? 

•  Sophomore year of high school basketball, myself and 1 other teammate were the only 2 kids out of 15 players to not make the academic all Northern team, in front of a packed house.

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

• Catching a TD @ Montana on a 2 minute drive and completely silencing a Crowd of 23,000+ people! 

What song best describes your work ethic?

• Heart of a Champion by; Nelly 

What is the most important trait you can have (Physical or Non-Physical) to help you succeed at the next level? 

• Being coachable

If you could bring one person back from the dead for one day, who would it be and why?

• A mentor and neighbor growing up, George Gordon. I would do anything for one more conversation and moment to appreciate everything I learned from him.

If you were to open a dance club, what would you name it? 

• The Establishment

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

• Reggie White Jr. 

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

• Respected. You can be a like-able person, but be Walked all over. Respect is EARNED, not given. 

What player who had his career derailed by off-field issues do you feel for the most and why?

• Johnny Manziel. A guy who had everything going for him, had it made, but couldn’t bring himself to fully clean up his act. It’s hard to watch someone with so much potential, throw everything away because they couldn’t get their social life in tact, and couldn’t handle business. Wasted talent and potential.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• I hate to lose more than I love to win. 

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?

• I’ve had a lot of awesome people in my corner throughout my life, but my father is my biggest influence on my life because he is a FIGHTER. He taught me to never ever quit, and to give it your all in everything and anything you do, no matter how hard it gets.