‘Fire His A**’ — Calls Mount for ESPN To Cut Ties With NFL Analyst Ryan Clark After Viral Rant Confronting Robert Griffin III

Former NFL players Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III are locked in a very public social media beef stemming from the latter’s comments about a hard foul in the WNBA. Griffin suggested the two WNBA players hate each other, and that led Clark to talk about Griffin’s wife and family.

Both ex-NFLers have responded to each other since, but Clark is facing a lot of heat for his comments. Fans have even started calling for ESPN to fire the former defensive back.

Fans React to Ryan Clark’s Comments Regarding Robert Griffin III’s Family

Clark and Griffin played for Washington in 2014. That was Clark’s final year in the NFL, and the last year that Griffin saw the field in D.C. The two overlapped as broadcasters at ESPN, working together on the network’s NFL coverage.

The two have apparently not gotten along for a while, with Clark calling Griffin, “One of the worst teammates I ever had both on the field and in TV,” in a recent post on X. That clap back was a response to a lengthy video Griffin posted reacting to Clark’s comments on an episode of “The Pivot” podcast.

Bruh you know what it is with me and you! I saved you the entire season on MNF. I urged people to let you be you. No matter how corny, how bad a teammate you were I had your back. What did you do? Invite someone on your show you know I don’t fool with to ask questions about me,… https://t.co/DVowpagZFk

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25)

The argument comes from Griffin’s reaction to a hard foul on Angel Reese by Caitlin Clark. The two WNBA stars have had a long rivalry dating back to college. It was a hard foul, but fairly common basketball play that was elevated to a discussion about race.

The WNBA launched an investigation into “hateful fan comments” directed at Reese, and the Indiana Fever star has condemned any hateful actions. Griffin attempted to talk about a basketball play, but Ryan Clark took things further.

Griffin recently claimed that Reese and Caitlin Clark hated each other, and Ryan Clark did not appreciate that wording. On “The Pivot,” he went into a long rant discussing Griffin’s wife and family. He posted a clip from the show on X with a lengthy message.

He wrote, “RGIII saying he could recognize ‘hate when ‘he’ see(s) it’, when referring to Angel Reese’s feelings toward Caitlin Clark was irresponsible, but not at all surprising. Clark’s the biggest star in women’s basketball, & deservedly so. No need to beat up Reese to add shine to it.”

“RGIII plays into the narrative that Reese is the villain of Clark’s hero origin story. Now, [Keith Olbermann] & [David] Portnoy, who berated Reese in college, have an ally in Griffin. Add him to the list of black men who’ve adopted the corny trend of denigrating black women to affirm their choices.

“Attacking Reese multiple times in order to gain favor from his desired crowd won’t help [Griffin] blend in more. ‘Echoing the micro aggressions of racist won’t make him any less black than me’,” the tweet read.

RGIII saying he could recognize “hate when ‘he’ see(s) it”, when referring to Angel Reese’s feelings toward Caitlin Clark was irresponsible, but not at all surprising. Clark’s the biggest star in women’s basketball, & deservedly so. No need to beat up Reese to add shine to it.… pic.twitter.com/u2IDFwctf0

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25)

Ryan Clark also said, “The one thing we know about RG3 is he’s not having conversations at his home about what Black women have to endure in this country.

“About what young Black women and athletes like Angel Reese have to deal with being on the opposite side of Caitlin Clark’s rise and ascension into stardom.

“If you’re RG3, when is the last time within your household you’ve had a conversation about what [Angel Reese is] dealing with?” Clark continued. “You haven’t been able to do that because in both of your marriages, you’ve been married to white women.”

This post led to a long response from Griffin, where he voiced his frustration at the ex-defensive back. Griffin repeatedly called Ryan Clark’s comments “wrong and way out of bounds.”

Many fans also feel Ryan Clark’s comments went too far and took to social media with their reactions.

One fan took Griffin’s side and called Ryan Clark’s reaction “ridiculous.”

“Nah this is a bad look. Angel Reese clearly overacted to the foul and defending the overreaction while trying to diminish RG3’s reaction by calling attention to his home life is low rent – this whole thing is ridiculous,” they said.

Nah this is a bad look. Angel Reese clearly overacted to the foul and defending the overreaction while trying to diminish RG3’s reaction by calling attention to his home life is low rent – this whole thing is ridiculous. 👎🏽👎🏽

— Pro Golf Critic (@ProGolfCritic)

Another fan defended Griffin, saying, “You have no idea what sort of conversations @RGIII and his wife are having at home. Zero. None. You owe the man and his family an apology.”

One fan seemed confused, writing, “How did we go from talking about Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese to RG3’s wife?”

Another had a strong response for Ryan Clark, saying, “Why does it need to be a black/white issue, Ryan? Why can’t it be two players that don’t particularly like each other? Jordan and Isiah hated each other. Still do to this day. Trying to make something about race that really shouldn’t have anything to do with it, covers up for bad behavior.”

“What lol. Doesnt @RGIII have sisters thats black?” said another. The fan continued, “What does his marital status have anything to do with the conversations he has had in his household Ryan? You can have these conversations outside your home and they can be just as impactful as if they were in your home.”

These reactions culminated with one fan calling for Ryan Clark’s job. The fan’s message was simple: “Fire his a**.”

Fire his ass

— MatasEffect (@MoneyBagsMatas)

Clark has caught a lot of heat for his comments. It’s up to ESPN to determine if they keep the Super Bowl 43 champion on staff, but calling Griffin a bad teammate signifies that there’s more to this beef than meets the eye.