Neal and Clark will need some time to show how they fit into Seattle’s secondary as players, but it only took them minutes as new members of the Seahawks to show they have the personality and confidence to fit in with a group that includes other dynamic personalities like Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwori and veteran leader Julian Love.
As Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald noted, Clark, Neal and Seattle’s first-round pick, running back Jadarian Price all have different personalities, “But they have those core competitive fundamentals. They’ve got swag, they’ve got confidence, but they have humility. They play an exciting brand of football which we’re excited to work with, that’s the common denominator.”
And while swag, confidence and a sense of humor are great for a press conference, there’s more to it than that. A big part of Seattle’s draft evaluation is getting to know the type of person and competitor that they’re adding to the team. They need to know not just how talented a player is, physically, but how they will fit into the culture general manager and president of football operations John Schneider and Macdonald have built, and how they will come in and compete with a very talented roster made up almost entirely of players who just won a Super Bowl.
“We added two Seahawks through and through guys,” Schneider said. “Competitors, athletes, tough. Just a great job by (area scouts) Josh (Graff) and Ryan (Florence) really getting to know the people and the competitors.
“They’re both really confident guys. Bud’s going to be fun too. He’s a blast. Mike and I were talking about the personalities throughout the process, like, ‘Man, if we put Bud and ‘Spoon in the same room, what’s going to happen?’ And Nick in his second year.”
Both Clark and Neal came into Friday hoping and believing they could end up in Seattle. Clark because of the good vibes he got on his pre-draft visit to Seattle, and Neal because of how well his combine interview with the Seahawks went.
Clark, who said “honestly, my heart dropped to my butt” when the Seahawks called, said, “I’ve been wanting to play for them for the longest… I felt like it was a home for me when I came out there, so it’s a dream.
“I got to see a couple of bald eagles, that was something different for me. I could get used to it though.”
As for Neal, his conversation with assistant head coach Leslie Frazier after his combine interview had him convinced he would end up in Seattle.
“It wasn’t a surprise at all,” Neal said. “After that meeting at the combine, Les, the assistant head coach told me, ‘You’re most likely going to get picked by the Seahawks, Julian Neal.’ He told me that to my face. I believed him, and they believed in me.”
So sure was Neal of his draft destination that, when he realized the shipment of hats he was supposed to receive never arrived, he sent an aunt out not to buy a bunch of different hats, but only a Seahawks hat.
“This was the only hat I bought, this was truly the only hat I bought,” he said. “… I wasn’t going to buy all 32. I said, ‘Auntie, go get me a Seahawks hat.’ I promise you, and it’s crazy it happened.”
