After a week in which he was considered by many to be the most boastful player on either team, Frank Clark sat a podium outside of Miami's Hard Rock Stadium vindicated.
Moments earlier, Clark's Kansas City Chiefs had beat the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31-20 in what the 26-year-old Clark said was his first championship at any level.
"This is new to me," Clark said. "I have never been a champion. I never went to the White House in college. I've never even been to [Washington] D.C."
While Clark said he's still deciding whether or not he'll take the customary trip to the White House, the Chiefs likely wouldn't even have the option to do so if not for his stellar play. A prized free-agent signing a year ago, Clark tallied a crucial nine-yard sack on 4th-and-10, giving Kansas City the ball back with a 24-20 lead and just 1:25 remaining in the game.
If not for Clark's clutch sack, the 49ers may have extended what possessed the potential to be the game-winning drive. So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Michigan product sat at that podium displaying the same trademark confidence he did throughout the week -- including when the Chiefs entered the fourth quarter trailing San Francisco by 10 points.
"You look at the game and these guys are running around celebrating, that's the worst I felt in the game when we're down 10 points and there's 15 minutes to go and the guys start celebrating like they're about to win the Super Bowl," Clark said of the 49ers. "I went out there the next drive and I told them, 'y'all a-- is going home like the rest of them.'
"Excuse my French. They told me to slow down the cussing. But it's the end of the season so we're gonna vibe. I'm a Super Bowl champion so they can't tell me nothing right now."
Clark was on a roll. And while he was at it, he had a message for his hometown of Cleveland regarding his latest accomplishment.
"I did it. I did it for all my people," the Glenville product said. "Shoutout to all the people that have been supporting me and holding it down. These select few, like five or 10. But when they doubted me, I did it. We're Super Bowl champs. They're going to write a story about this one."