After more than a decade, Ryan Clark’s run at ESPN came to an abrupt end after the network recently laid off the former NFL safety.
Now, the network has already found Clark’s replacement in five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Steve Smith. After more details surfaced about ESPN’s plans, two-time Super Bowl champion Asante Samuel called out the network for waging war on Clark.
Asante Samuel Believes ESPN Just Took ‘a Direct Shot’ at Ryan Clark
Speaking on his “Say What Needs to Be Said” podcast, Samuel did not hold back while reacting to ESPN’s decision to hire Smith and pair him with Peter Schrager on a soon-to-be-announced show.
“Steve Smith has been identified as the talent to replace Ryan Clark…” Samuel said. “They just declared war against Ryan Clark, if you can’t tell. The network has yet to make an announcement or comment, but the expanded role is expected to include shows like ‘Get Up,’ ‘First Take,’ ‘NFL Live,’ and a soon-to-be-announced Peter Schrager show.”
Asante Says ESPN Declares War On Ryan Clark After Hiring His Replacement & Peter Schrager Show pic.twitter.com/7AoeHOsNNv
— Say What Needs To Be Said (@saywhatneedsto) July 31, 2026
The fact that ESPN paired Smith with Schrager is what Samuel finds interesting. Clark and Schrager famously got into it, with the former dismissing the latter’s take because he didn’t play in the NFL. Clark received a ton of backlash for this incident, and this on-air dispute was cited as the moment ESPN executives began to sour on Clark.
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Given that context, Samuel feels this is a cold-blooded move by the network.
“The cold-blooded part about ESPN firing Ryan Clark, they are giving the same guy Ryan Clark chastized about having an opinion as a non-football player his own show, Peter Schrager. It’s cold-blooded, man,” Samuel said. “It’s a cold-blooded world we live in. Peter Schrager’s show looks like a direct shot at Ryan Clark, if you ask me.”
Clark was not the only high-profile personality affected by ESPN’s latest wave of cuts. Longtime MLB announcer Karl Ravech and NFL insider Tom Pelissero also lost their positions at the network along with fellow ex-NFL stars Cam Newton and Bart Scott.
However, Clark has consistently maintained that ESPN’s decision was personal.
“I wasn’t laid off, I was fired,” Clark said during “The Pivot” podcast. “They’re using layoffs as a cover and a camouflage for what they already intended on doing. But there was no cause for it.
“So, because there was no cause for it, you couldn’t just fire me. So you had to wait till the layoffs so you could camouflage it and veil it. But here’s the other thing, if I was laid off like everybody else, it [would’ve] came out on Tuesday; mine came out on Friday.”
We will never know the truth about ESPN’s decision, but the network has received criticism for how it handled Clark’s layoff, as he was informed during a commercial break while filming “NFL Live” since Outkick had caught wind of the news.
