Ryan Clark Defends Barry Church’s Hit On Rob Gronkowski In AFC Title Game

One of the key moments in the New England Patriots’ AFC Championship Game win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday came when Jaguars safety Barry Church was whistled for an unnecessary roughness penalty after leveling Rob Gronkowski with a helmet-to-helmet hit.

The Patriots would go on to score on that drive to cut the lead to four at halftime, and eventually, mount a furious fourth-quarter comeback to win 24-20.

Church and cornerback A.J. Bouye both reacted to the officiating after the game, and former Pro-Bowl safety Ryan Clark defended Church’s hit that knocked Gronkowski out of the game.

“Well listen, as a guy who was fined many a time, and was subject to these type of penalties in games, it is very difficult,” Clark said Monday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” ” I would go to the competition committee meetings and I would argue that a lot of times we don’t start with the intent to hit a guy in the head, but over and over again they tell you it’s not about your intent, not about your aim, not about the level in which you approach it. It’s what happens.

“And what happened here is his helmet clearly hits Rob Gronkowski’s helmet,” Clark continued. “I hate the call. I hate the position that you’re in as a safety. If he would have went low, which we’ve seen done to Rob Gronkowski many times over the middle, I remember T.J. Ward years back hitting him low and hurting his knee, everyone was in an uproar about T.J. Ward being a dirty player and trying to take Gronk out. When really he was trying to play within the confines of the rule. And it’s a very difficult place to be, you have to make the play as a safety. ”

Clark wasn’t the only one coming to Church’s defense, as Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman also echoed similar sentiments Sunday.

Gronkowski entered concussion protocol after the hit, but the Patriots reportedly are optimistic he will be cleared to play in Super Bowl LII against the Philadelphia Eagles.