Ryan Clark is not calling his exit from ESPN a layoff. He’s calling it what he believes it was: a firing.
The former LSU standout and Marrero native said on The Pivot, the podcast he co-hosts with Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder, that his 12-year run as an ESPN analyst ended this week because he was pushed out, not simply caught in a round of cuts.
“Let me put this to bed - I wasn’t laid off, I was fired,” Clark said.
Clark was one of several prominent names to lose their jobs at ESPN this week, alongside 33-year veteran Karl Ravech, Carolina Panthers legend Cam Newton and NFL insider Tom Pelissero. But Clark made clear he sees his situation differently from the others on the list.
He said he spent part of his time at the network trying to fit the expectations of executives, and that he felt at least one person in power did not value what he brought.
“What makes me a little bit sad about myself is I did adjust who I was to try to keep my job,” Clark said, adding that he had meetings with executives trying to determine how he could better meet their demands.
“I couldn’t have no beef. I couldn’t respond to disrespect,” Clark said.
“I knew for a lack of a better word, I couldn’t be too black. What makes me sad is even in trying to adjust to being more of what certain people wanted, they still fired me.”
Clark said the part that hit him hardest was the idea that he changed himself and still lost the job anyway. But when the conversation turned to whether he would alter anything about his ESPN tenure, his tone shifted.
“It depends on when you ask me,” said Clark, who began to struggle to get his words out. “Like when I see people in public … they tell me they’re proud of me.
They’re proud of the way I represent the community. I wouldn’t change anything because that means the world to me.
“When I go home and this kid, you know, from the West Bank is like so accepted in New Orleans now, like I wouldn’t change that. Never.
All I ever wanted is to be accepted and wanted. So yeah, I wouldn’t change that.”
According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, an on-air clash between Clark and Peter Schrager helped lead to the decision. The dispute came during a “Get Up” discussion about the Dallas Cowboys, when Clark said Schrager’s viewpoint on his opinion was “the non-player” in him.
Schrager pushed back immediately, and Clark later apologized.
Clark said on The Pivot that the incident was being blown out of proportion.
“Me and Peter don’t have an issue,” he said. “If you ask him right now after what went on, nobody has been nicer to him.”
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