Former Pittsburgh Steelers star Ryan Clark could be on thin ice with ESPN after his on-air and off-air feud with ESPN NFL analyst Peter Schrager last week.
According to Front Office Sports, ESPN could be frustrated with Clark for multiple reasons, including the fact that he has been forced to apologize publicly twice in recent months, and the fact that the network hates ESPN-on-ESPN confrontations.
The most recent feud involving Ryan Clark occurred last Friday on Get Up as he was talking with Peter Schrager about the Eagles close win over the Cowboys and particularly the play of CeeDee Lamb in the Cowboys’ loss.
During the conversation, Clark said to Schrager, “That’s the non-player in you” as Schrager defended Lamb’s performance compared to Eagles star A.J. Brown.
Schrager was clearly offended by the remark.
“Oh stop. ... Ryan, don’t belittle me like that. I can come in and say, as three ex-players are saying one thing, and give an alternative perspective,” Schrager said.
The feud reportedly continued after the show. Ryan Clark eventually apologized for his comments to Schrager on X.
"Today, I had an interaction with my colleague Peter Schrager both on and off the air that I regret. I have apologized to Peter and taken accountability with ESPN leadership,“ Ryan Clark posted. ”I value working with Peter and look forward to this season. My focus will remain on professionalism, teamwork, and being a better teammate moving forward."
The apology to Schrager came three months after Clark apologized to Robert Griffin III’s wife Grete for comments he made as Clark and RGIII were going back and forth about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Clark criticized Griffin for having Grete in the background of his video “almost seemingly as a prop” as he discussed the Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark relationship and why he feels like Reese hates Clark.
Clark later apologized for the comment.
“So to Grete – I was out of line. I was out of bounds. I apologize. To all of the people that don’t like RG’s take, or takes, or the way that he moves, or even if you just in this conversation take my side and want to support me, leave his family alone,“ Clark said. ”It doesn’t take a daily attack on his wife, on his children, to remind him that you think his take, his takes or whatever it is, is the wrong thing to you.
“Families should be off limits. I started that by bringing her into it. I see that now. No matter what my intent was, the impact was different. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it a different way.”
Ryan Clark has been at ESPN since retiring from the NFL in 2015. He regularly appears on NFL Live, First Take, Get Up and SportsCenter.
Prior to joining ESPN, Clark played 13 seasons in the NFL, with most of that time coming with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He played in 177 NFL games and finished his career with 16 interceptions. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2011 and recorded 100 tackles in each of his last four seasons (2011-14) in the National Football League.
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