ESPN fired Ryan Clark on Monday as part of a round of layoffs, and his exit from the network drew mixed responses across the sports world. Some celebrated the decision, while others voiced strong opposition, most notably Stephen A. Smith, who made it clear to ESPN executives that he was unhappy with the move.
Clark was informed during a commercial break on “NFL Live” and never returned to finish the broadcast. Then Nick Bosa weighed in by posting on X for the first time in four years to approve ESPN’s decision.
Nick Bosa’s Post Reignites 49ers Star’s Beef With Ryan Clark
The tension between Bosa and Clark dates to October 2024, when Bosa wore a “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” hat while crashing a postgame interview with teammates Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and Isaac Guerendo on Sunday Night Football.
To celebrate Clark’s exit from ESPN, Bosa used this “👌” emoji in his post on X.
The NFL world on X had mixed reactions to Bosa’s post, and here are some of them:
Emmanuel Acho said, “Nick Bosa’s first tweet in 4 years in co-signing Ryan Clark’s firing. I’ve never seen this many people celebrate a man’s demise in sports media. It’s sad.”
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Former New Orleans Saints star Michael Thomas laughed at Bosa’s post and wrote, “Wait a minute 😂😂😂”
Like Thomas, Jason Whitlock also laughed and said, “Lol.”
Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann floated how it could be because Clark called out Bosa for wearing a MAGA hat. He wrote, “I’m sure it has zero to do with this… Remember, Nick Bosa didn’t have the courage to actually stand by wearing the hat as he pretty much told reporters ‘I’m not gonna talk too much about it.'”
I’m sure it has zero to do with this…
Remember, Nick Bosa didn’t have the courage to actually stand by wearing the hat as he pretty much told reporters “I’m not gonna talk too much about it.” https://t.co/JPh7W3X1lk pic.twitter.com/iaiCbPPkqU
— Sam Neumann (@Sam_Neumann_) July 24, 2026
NFL writer John Frascella wrote, “Nick Bosa openly APPROVES of the firing of Ryan Clark.”
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An account named ’49ers & NFL News 24/7′ posted an old clip of Clark talking about Bosa, and wrote, “This is what Ryan Clark said about #49ers EDGE Nick Bosa… Which likely triggered Nick Bosa’s “👌” post to Ryan Clark’s firing from ESPN.”
This is what Ryan Clark said about #49ers EDGE Nick Bosa…
Which likely triggered Nick Bosa’s “👌” post to Ryan Clark’s firing from ESPN.
VIA: @thepivot pic.twitter.com/b8YYWjBYXY
— 49ers & NFL News 24/7 (@49ersSportsTalk) July 24, 2026
In that clip, Clark took issue with Bosa wearing the MAGA hat and said, “I think when Nick Bosa shows up in a MAGA hat doing Brock Purdy’s interview, he knows exactly what he’s doing. Never before has [this] sort of partisanship had divided the country in the way that it has. Since 2016, that’s been what it is, and when you say make America great again, what was so great about it before? What part of America are you trying to get to?”
“There’s a long following of Nick Bosa’s tweets where it’s a lot of pushback against the culture, which is weird because in the locker room is such a melting pot of people where you accept one another’s differences,” Clark added. “Also, [I] think it’s sort of ironic this happens in San Francisco, where Colin Kaepernick legitimately lost his career, not because he said America is a bad place; because he said, ‘I want to make America a better place for people like us.’
“So it seems very clear to me Nick Bosa understands that when you wear that hat, you take a side,” Clark continued. “You take a side of division in a sport that’s supposed to bring us together. I’m just waiting for all the people who comment under political and sports things to shut up and dribble or to shut up and play football, to tell him to shut up and rush. But they ain’t going to say it because they feel the exact same way he do.”
Bosa is currently rehabbing the second torn ACL of his career after going down in Week 3 of the 2025 season against the Arizona Cardinals, but he is on track to return for 2026 training camp.
Clark, meanwhile, still has a platform with “The Pivot Podcast,” and many are eager to hear him tell his side of the story of his dismissal from ESPN in full, likely including a response to Bosa’s post.
