Aaron Rodgers ignored former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark during his visit to the team’s training camp earlier this month.
Joining Meadowlark’s Football America! podcast, Clark talked about his interaction with Rodgers. He requested to interview him for his podcast, The Pivot, but Rodgers declined. However, even when Clark tried to acknowledge and talk to Rodgers, he never said anything to him.
“I have nothing against dude, he’s fine. I was like, ‘Man, I would love to sit with him.’ I’m apart of the history there. He’s the quarterback with our team now. I actually don’t dislike him. I want to sit with him, welcome him to Steeler nation, and just kind of have a conversation. I didn’t want to have a conversation about that. I wanted to talk about his career. I have said over and over again, he’s the best quarterback I ever played against,” Clark said.
“He declined, he had other things to do, which I respected. But when we were pulling up to campus, he was talking to Arthur Smith when we were going up the hill. For me, if I truly don’t have an issue with you, I’m going to speak to you. I’m going to say hello. It’s rude not to, in my opinion. So he was talking to Arthur Smith. I talked to some of the guys I see coming from the special teams meeting. I roll the window down and I say, ‘What’s up guys.’ Arthur Smith kind of speaks. Aaron Rodgers looks at me and he doesn’t say anything.”
Rodgers has ripped what ESPN has turned into in the past, and while he has not gone directly at Clark, the former Steelers safety has made it known he would not have signed Rodgers if he were running the Steelers.
That, however, led to Clark respecting Rodgers more for keeping the same energy with him that he thought he would have initially.
“I respected it because he was like, ‘I’m not gonna be fake.’ For whatever he feels or whatever it is, he’s like that is not someone that I fool with in that way and I’m not going to fake it. And I think it set the tone that you and I don’t talk. When I was on the field, I didn’t say anything to him. He didn’t say anything to me. But I did get a good chuckle out of it,” Clark said.
Rodgers has long been critical of the media and their coverage of him throughout his career. So far in Pittsburgh, he has not had any run-ins with the media that would be prickly like has been documented over the duration of his storied NFL career.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.