The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the highlights of the 2025 season. After a puzzling offseason, where they moved on from Geno Smith and parted ways with both Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, instead relying on an almighty jump from Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the arrival of Sam Darnold.
Even with the question marks surrounding him, though, Darnold delivered in the best way imaginable, empowering the franchise to finish as the one-seed in the NFC. But before a critical Divisional Round matchup, an oblique injury put his status into question. Unfortunately, it led to some rather bizarre commentary from Ryan Clark, which did not go over well with the NFL fan base at large.
Fans Aghast at Ryan Clark for his Sam Darnold Comments
After coming in at number 15 on PFSN’s QB Impact last season with the Minnesota Vikings, the general belief was that Darnold’s success was a result of the elite receiving core and the head coaching excellence of Kevin O’Connell.
However, with the Seahawks, he has followed up with an even higher finish at 13, with his stock rising considerably across the league. Now, the only hurdle left for him to overcome was the playoff demons.
After a dreadful performance last season, the hope had to be that he could take a step further and not let a spectacular year for Seattle go to waste. Unfortunately, an oblique injury in the lead-up to the game left his status in legitimate jeopardy.
However, Clark wasn’t ready to believe the injury designation. Instead, ESPN’s infamous analyst went the controversial route when discussing the matter, claiming, “It sounds like the setup for an excuse.”
Pre-emptively assuming that he was going to have a rough game against the 49ers, Clark went a step further in calling this an exercise in trying to help Darnold’s reputation.
“It sounds like the things that you say before a game when you don’t play well, when the throws aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everybody can point back, ‘But you have to remember, he didn’t get those first-team reps and his oblique was tight on Thursday.’”
Most of the fans consuming football, though, did not take too kindly to his comments. Some met his attitude with the same kind of rudeness, stating, “Society has progressed past the need for Ryan Clark on television.”
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However, others weren’t willing to let him walk away from the comments without any consequence. As one user wrote, “Every week Ryan Clark finds a new depth to sink to,” the feeling seemed to be virtually unanimous.
Joe Blewett, who is the co-owner of Jets X Factor, even resorted to outright name-calling as his anger felt justified with Clark’s comments, which almost directly questioned Darnold’s football character. “There are a lot of a**holes/idiots out there. But Ryan Clark is 1 of 1.”
Another user even called for genuine ramifications against the former Super Bowl champion, stating,” Sounds like Ryan Clark should be held accountable for being terrible at his job.”
Of course, with social media the way it is, some went the hilarious route, with sarcasm dripping down the timeline in their comments. “Ryan Clark having an extremely poor take? I, for one, am so shocked.”
Regardless of the tone of their disapproval, the people on social media were united in their anger at Clark for his insensitive comments. Beyond questioning the legitimacy of the injury, he was directly casting doubt on the Seahawks’ words while also questioning Darnold’s toughness.
