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By Megan Armstrong
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This week, ESPN underwent another brutal round of layoffs, and the headliner was Ryan Clark because he was informed that he'd lost his job while on air for "NFL Live" on Monday, July 20.
Clark, an ex-NFL defensive back who won the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers, joined ESPN upon his retirement in February 2015. Over the years, the Sports Emmy winner became a staple on "NFL Live," "Get Up," "First Take," and "Monday Night Countdown."
Clark emotionally disclosed the details of his firing — "I wasn't laid off; I was fired" — on the latest episode of "The Pivot Podcast," which he has co-hosted with fellow ex-NFLers Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder since January 2022.
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From the outside looking in, Clark was central to ESPN's "Year of the Super Bowl" NFL coverage next season, as the network gears up to broadcast the Super Bowl for the first time. But inside the building, Clark said, there were signs that the company wanted to cut ties with him.
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Clark had sensed something was off for months. He noticed he was not featured on any of the promotional material for ESPN's "Year of the Super Bowl." He was not asked to participate in Pat McAfee's charitable "Family Feud" between his producers and the "NFL Live" crew. Last summer, Stephen A. Smith informed Clark that "a particular executive doesn't like you," which Clark had heard about for years prior.
"They're using 'layoffs' as a cover and camouflage for what they already intended on doing, but there was no cause for it, right?" Clark said. "So because there was no cause for it, you couldn't just fire me, so you had to wait 'til the layoffs so you could camouflage it and veil it."
The Athletic's Andrew Marchand reported Monday that "ESPN executives soured" on Clark because of unspecified "choices," specifically naming an on-air disagreement with Peter Schrager on "Get Up" last September.
Clark clarified on "The Pivot" that neither Schrager nor McAfee had anything to do with his firing. Instead, he cited a subset of ESPN executives who took issue with Clark's undying commitment standing up for his community and racial justice.
Clark underscored that it was a small number of decision-makers who wanted him out, and it was not a reflection of how his colleagues felt about him.
When Taylor asked if he had any regrets, Clark was overcome by emotion.
"When I see people in public, like OGs and aunties and stuff, and they tell me they're proud of me, and they're proud of the way I represent the community, yeah, I wouldn't change anything because that means the world to me," Clark said through tears. "When I go home, and this kid from the West Bank is so accepted in New Orleans now, I wouldn't change that. Never. All I ever wanted to do was be accepted and wanted, so yeah, I wouldn't change that."
Clark continued:
"If you ask me the first Monday of football, when all my friends get to do something we did super special together, yeah, I'd probably change it. I'd probably work harder to be who they wanted me to be or build relationships with bosses or executives because it's just a relationship game. I just see people on TV who, like, aren't better than me, but I know I've never been at the tables they've been accepted.
There are some things I would do differently because I feel like I let them win. I feel like there's a group of people, a faction of individuals who wanted to devalue my voice, who wanted to take away my platform, and I feel like I let them win.
But then, there's the other side, my platform isn't as big anyway, or it's not as impactful anyway, if I don't do those things. If I'm that person, if I'm not authentically me. And it's not even something I can prove that if I was different, they wouldn't have fired me. I can't prove that. So, if I can't prove that, I would've hated to be fired being something I wasn't."
Clark emphasized how much he "loved his job" and expressed sorrow for all of his colleagues who lost their jobs.
Watch the full "Pivot" episode below.
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