Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Ryan Clark revealed during an appearance on Meadowlark’s Football America! podcast, hosted by Dave Dameshek, that Aaron Rodgers ignored him during his visit at Steelers training camp earlier this month.
“There was a lot of people who I felt like were excited to see me in camp. And then there was one… It’s cool though, it strangely enough made me respect him,” Clark said of Rodgers. “I hit [Steelers director of communications] Burt [Lauten] up, because we were coming to campus. I have nothing against dude, he’s fine. I was like, ‘Man, I would love to sit with him.’ I’m a part 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.
“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.
“But I respect it because he was like I’m not going to be fake. For whatever he feels or whatever it is, he’s like that’s not someone that I fool with in that way and I’m not going to fake it. It set the tone that, hey, you and I don’t talk. When I was on the field, I had to say nothing to him, he didn’t say anything to me. But I did get a chuckle out of it.”
Rodgers and Clark have had past beef, so it’s not surprising that the four-time NFL MVP wanted nothing to do with him.
Ryan Clark blasted Rodgers’ leadership last year with the New York Jets, saying he’s “devoid of the great leadership ability” to lift a locker room.
Rodgers then called out those in the media who he said had forgettable careers.
“I’m talking about these experts on TV who nobody remembers what they did in their career,” Rodgers said in December. “So in order for them to stay relevant, they have to make comments that keep them in the conversation. That wasn’t going on in 2008, 2009. The ‘SportsCenter’ of my youth, those guys made highlights so much fun. And that’s what they showed on ‘SportsCenter.’”
Clark responded with calling Rodgers a fraud.
“The reason you’re getting the opportunity...
