Credit: 'Get Up' Following ESPNs somewhat shocking dismissal of Ryan Clark this week, reports suggested he was let go because of an incident last fall with fellow NFL analyst Peter Schrager.
The moment came early last NFL season on Get Up , when a conversation about NFL wide receivers resulted in Clark pushing back on Schragers perspective and saying, Thats the non-player in you.
In response, Schrager said Clark was belittling him, and most of the sports media world came to Schragers defense , accusing Clark of being a bad on-air teammate.
By the following week, the two had seemingly come to an understanding , and continued to appear together on ESPN programming, even fist-bumping in a show of unity on NFL Live.
Still, The Athletic reported this week that the dispute with Schrager was a major part of why ESPN laid Clark off.
But in an episode of his own podcast , The Pivot , released Friday, Clark claimed that situation was not why I got fired.
Me and Peter dont have an issue, he said.
I would think if you asked him right now, obviously after what went on with us, theres been nobody thats been nicer to him.
Clark then revealed the back story leading up to the clash.
In his telling, he was given a schedule by ESPN for that week stating he would appear on both Get Up and First Take on Thursday and Friday.
After flying into New York City on Wednesday night, Clark said he was never looped into production meetings for Thursdays Get Up.
And when he turned the show on on Thursday morning, he saw the hosts of Bussin With the Boys in his place.
The sequence of events did not sit well with Clark, who said he wanted better communication.
Along with some other people, we built Get Up.
That show was dying.
Your original idea didnt work, Clark said.
So it was Dan (Orlovsky), and it was Marcus (Spears), and it was Culture Wednesday with me and Domonique (Foxworth).
Thats why that show lasted to be what it is that youre turning it into now.
And the people who I built that with, yall just couldnt call me and just tell me? Meanwhile, Clark said, ESPN producers began to tell him that it is not typical to appear on both Get Up and First Take regularly.
Yet, in Clarks mind, both Orlovsky and Schrager often did exactly that.
So when he finally got a chance to join Get Up on the Friday of the disagreement with Schrager, he had a lot on his mind.
And, according to Clark, the fact that Schrager and host Mike Greenberg were not former players had been a running joke throughout the show.
Contrary to how most viewers received the disagreement with Schrager, Clark said the inciting moment came when Schrager responded, dont belittle me.
I wasnt trying to say, You dont have an opinion because you didnt play, I was trying to say, You have a different opinion because you didnt play,' he said.
And maybe I didnt get that across in the right way.
I can accept that.
But then he raised his voice at me, Dont belittle me, this and this.
Apparently, Schrager moved on to celebrating the segment, seemingly excited that the dispute would make for compelling content.
But Im already knowing, the person who loves you dont love me and they make decisions here, and we just had that happen, Clark explained.
And while hes celebrating, Im telling him, Dont effing disrespect me like that.' With cameras rolling, Clark alleges that Get Up producers referenced footage of him arguing with Schrager during the break, claiming they were worried he would get aggressive.
Clark believes someone at ESPN later shared that footage with OutKick, the Fox News-owned outlet that later reported: the tense back-and-forth spilled over after the segment.
Im talking to people who Ive known for 12 years and theyre like, We thought you were going to get aggressive,' Clark said.
The person youve been knowing all this time, who never did anything, whos never had an altercation here, is going to get aggressive from over there? So now youre trying to paint this angry Black man trope of me that you know is not true, but Im starting to feel the narrative.
I feel what youre doing.
You get me on the phone and people are telling me, Youve gotta work better with people.
Work better with who? Everybody I work with loves me.
Clark added that he and Schrager closed the loop on their argument and continued to have a strong working relationship.
Me and Peter talked.
Me and Peter fixed that.
Me and Peter had the conversation.
Me and Peter moved on from it, he said.
And what I wanted to do (for) him from that point on, because I heard what he said, I never wanted to make him feel that way, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Indeed, Clarks claim that he is beloved among most of his on-air colleagues is hard to argue.
Even publicly, ESPN power players from Scott Van Pelt to Mina Kimes to Stephen A.
Smith have long expressed an appreciation for the former NFL safety.
Clark believes that the Schrager incident is being lifted up as cover for other issues that led ESPN to fire him.
That was unfortunate, but thats not why I got fired.
Still, while Clark may personally feel he and Schrager put the disagreement behind them, Schrager could feel differently.
And even if there were no lingering problems with other on-air colleagues, thats not to say ESPN executives could not still blame Clark for the blow-up and want to avoid future problems.
The truth, though, feels more complicated.
Clark was both highly paid and offered controversial opinions beyond the world of sports two things ESPN has increasingly less patience for.
The post Ryan Clark refutes that Peter Schrager incident was behind firing at ESPN appeared first on Awful Announcing .