Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Ryan Clark cleared the air on how he was laid off by ESPN.
Clark was notified he was fired in the middle of a live broadcast of “NFL Live” on Monday because ESPN feared the news would leak to the media before they could tell him in person.
That was it for Clark’s 11-year run at ESPN. He didn’t finish the show.
“I wasn’t forced?” Clark said in a response to a headline by TMZ Sports.
“’I ask, should I be done now?’ The answer was ‘yes,’ ” Clark revealed.
Clark along with several other prominent personalities were laid off by ESPN this week. Despite the abrupt exit, Clark took the high road.
“Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN. So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now. My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!” Clark wrote on X.
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith admitted he was “not happy” about Clark’s firing.
“Damn near got blisters on my tongue and my fingers from biting my tongue and biting my fingers from refraining from going after folks when I saw how people were talking about him,” Smith said.
“They don’t know him at all. They don’t know him at all.”
Clark has served a role on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown”, a pregame show, and the network will broadcast is first Super Bowl in February. Clark also regularly appeared on one of ESPN’s flagship daily programs, “First Take.”
Since 2022, Clark has been part of “The Pivot Podcast,” a show he hosts alongside fellow former NFL players Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Ryan Clark Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Details of Abrupt ESPN Exit
