Ryan Clark breaks silence on his firing from ESPN, any regrets, what he will miss & future|The Pivot

To have that taken away for whatever it is, if I could have been different in some ways, probably, you asked me on the right day.Yeah, I would say I have some regrets.

Sacrifice ain't cheap, man.

The thing, it's like, the thing I just told you I loved comes at a price.

Yep.

I love them both.I love, loved my job.

We know.

I love talking football.And I love my community.

Welcome to a special Friday edition of The Pivot.That's Fred T. I'm Chan, Pivot fan.Thank you for pivoting with us.But RCA ain't lose all his jobs.We have a special guest today, pro bowler, Super Bowl champion, four -time Emmy Award winner, and former ESPN employee.We got Ryan Clark coming out.

Somebody had to do it.What up, brother?Somebody had to do it.

Hey, RC, you know how I always ask the guests, what's their biggest pivot, right?

Yeah.

I think this is the biggest pivot.For sure.

I think I'll look at it in five years, and if I was sitting down with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor, that would be the answer.Now, what happens from now is like the rest of the story, but I think the moment would be this moment.

You good?No, no, I joke about it, but you know what I'm saying?It is a serious, serious situation.

I think, you know, I'm definitely okay, but I feel for the other people who are going through this.me.Carl Ravitch been there 33 years.Charles Davis, one of the best men in the business, along with best analyst.Bart Scott, Cam Newton, Tom Pellicero, and like countless other behind the scenes people.And you think, you know, what I learned about ESPN is so many people who work there grew up close to ESPN.

So they grew up with a dream of being there.and being able to work behind the scenes and create these stories and tell this story.And now their job is gone, right?What I'm dealing with is, in truth, a first world problem.But there are some people who are truly counting on what ESPN was going to do for them to feed their family.And, you know, so my thoughts and my prayers are with them as well.

I think the big question is, did you see it coming?Could you take us inside that moment?

Yes and no.I'm upset with myself from this perspective.There were signs, but I truly thought for the first time in my life, I worked so hard at something.I was so good at something.Everybody acknowledged that I was, that they couldn't fire me, that they wouldn't fire me.That a company who's going to have the Super Bowl this year, who truly wants to put their best foot forward to the entire world and have the best people Talking about football wouldn't fire, in my opinion, this is my opinion and it seems to be the opinion of many others, the best football analyst in the world.

I didn't think that, and that's my fault.You know, this off -season, our piece on Monday Night Football with Greg Brooks won an award, a diversity award.And our showrunner and our director and our producer were so excited and it was like PR is going to post it.And it never happened.And eventually, I just posted it myself.And then PR reached out, like, oh, I'm so sorry that we missed it.

But the Emmys are coming up, and we'll post it afterwards.And I just remember sending a text to one of the people I work with, and I said, they're not going to post that.They don't care.A company that posts about, you know, cool things like spelling bees, and, you know, post about the Family Feuds and all of these things, didn't care about an actual segment on our show about a young man like Greg.Didn't care about that enough because of me to use it.Was that ever addressed?

No, it was never addressed.Family Feud.They have an NFL Live Family Feud, a show that I've been a part of, that I won a sports Emmy for being a part of, that's won two Emmys in a row.Because of the core of Laura Rutledge, Marcus Spears, Dan Olowski, Mina Kimes, and Ryan Clark, you go do Family Feud, and Marcus and I aren't there, but Marcus was asked.And when I reached out to the people who were involved, they just said, one said, we never asked for you.Another said, these two people were already on Pat's show, and that's why you and Marcus weren't on.

But Marcus was asked.I wasn't.So there were just signs throughout the season, like even now.If you look at everything for the Super Bowl year, I'm not on any of that.A guy that was supposed to be a part of Monday Night Football, a man that's supposed to be a part of NFL Live, a man that's a huge part of First Take, was a part of building Get Up.So, to me, the signs were always there.

And I called, man. I called executives, I called decision makers, I called bosses.It's my schedule.changing.What's it look like?And it was never a definitive answer.But I think it was never a definitive answer because this was always the plan.

And you're not a shy dude.Like you said, I know you ain't just sitting in the shadows with your head down.You gonna address situations.But if it's not performance based, what's it based off of?

Well, to address the head down thing, what makes me a little bit sad about myself is I did adjust who I was to try to keep my job.I did have meetings with people and say, OK, what is it that you need from me?Not the analyst.The analyst was, he was damn good.Right?If you care about the person that's on TV, what is it you need from me?

Because I want to do that.I want to build a relationship.I want to involve you in the things I'm doing.You know, man, like this show, for three years, bro, we never shied away from any topic.We never shied away from tackling.anything we did this year, because I knew I couldn't have no beef.

I knew I couldn't respond to disrespect, right?I knew, for lack of a better word, I couldn't be too black.What makes me sad is, even in trying to adjust to be at least more of what certain people wanted, they still fired me.And so I think that that is difficult.I think it's about some of who I am, and it's about certain executives not connecting to that, not supportingthat, not wanting to champion that, not wanting to give that the vast platform that is ESPN.

And I think they utilized it to make an example of me.

But I see you call some people to figure out what you can do.Did anybody give you a heads up?

Yeah, I had gotten some heads up.I mean, summer ago, Stephen A. sat with me. took me to lunch in Los Angeles.And he told me, he said, you know, there's a particular executive that doesn't like you.Now, let me be honest.I had been hearing this for years, right?It had gotten to me so many times.

And so having that dinner or that lunch with Steve and Nate was just confirmation of it.He's like, you need to go set a meeting.But so many times when I heard about this particular person, it was, he doesn't like you, or he said this negatively.So I had heard it a ton of times.And I got a call.this off -season from someone within the building.

And, you know, they said the way I stand up for our community is commendable, right?That they respected that in my position, I had a passion for that.But they also said it had created enemies for me at the executive level.It had created opposition.And that there were people within that building that were going to stand on the table for me.And it was such a shock because I thought to myself, in the most important year in ESPN football, you got to stand on the table for me?

Like, for me.Like there's somebody that needs to be convinced that our NFL coverage is elevated when I'm on TV.Like there's a person that knows football.There's a person that knows TV that thinks that 13 years in the NFL, Super Bowl, pro bowler, a captain, experience from being an undrafted free agent to trying to make the team, to being one of the leaders in the locker room.12 years of doing this, you gotta convince that person that I should be doing TV.And, you know, what I learned was it wasn't about who I was in front of the camera as it pertained to football.

It was about what I represented every time I got in front of that camera.And that is something that I don't believe you truly, truly can come back.

When it's all said and done, that's the least anyone can do.I mean, you stand up and stand on you know, the shoulders of, or for so many people.Like, what you do, bro, is unbelievable.So for someone to stand up for you, I think that's the minimum anyone can do.But also, I want to put this to bed, because a lot of people have been having their takes about Stephen A, and you mentioned Stephen A. Is there anything Stephen A could have done to make this go away?

No.Stephen A, with all of his power, with all of his influence, is not a true decision maker.at ESPN.That's not his job title, right?That's not in the repertoire of what he's asked to do.And we get it so many times, right?

And I get it all the time.Why do you ride for him so much?Like, why don't you come for him when he says these things?And I've said it on the show.I call itI text him.

I tell him what I think he's doing too much.And I have the conversations with him all the time.But when this company was treating me in a way that, at least in my opinion, was unfair as it pertains to what I'd accomplished, he was the first person to go, I want you.If they're going to take you off of this or that, don't worry about it.You'll get your TV time on my show.Thursday and Friday will be Ryan Clark's days.

That will never be forgotten by me. I will be forever grateful for that.That in a space that I was sort of being told, at least being who you are is going to make you lose certain things because you aren't these people that we covet, these people that we're comfortable with, these people that we take pictures with and put our arms around and show the world that we support them.I'll do that for you.the loyalty he's shown me, the love he's shown me, the true hurt and pain in his voice when he called me around four o 'clock central time on Monday.I will never forget that.

We are forever, forever friends.You talking about four central on Monday.What will happen on Monday?Cause you got, bro, you got five minutes shift.

Hey, where'd the, where'd the other box go?Hey, Smokey was trying to build club houses.You know what I'm saying?He was still in boxes.He was still in boxes.Hey, my box disappeared.

Your box went away.Hey, they was like, damn.

I said, where is he going?

Yeah, so let me put this to bed.I wasn't laid off.I was fired, right?They're using layoffs as a cover and a camouflage for what they already intended on doing.But there was no cause for it.Right?

So because there was no cause for it, you couldn't just fire me, so you had to wait to the layoff so you could camouflage it and veil it, right?But here's the other thing.If I was laid off, like everybody else, it came out on Tuesday.Mine came out on Friday.I get the call, I get a text from our showrunner that tells me to call my boss.I call my boss in the break, tells me they're letting me go.

He said, this is a very awkward call.This is a hard call.I could hear how hard it was for him.And if anybody was going to call me that was anywhere on the executive level, whether low or high, he's the person I wanted to, the way he's fought for me and rode for me.And he said, our friends, jokingly, at Outkick, had the story, and were going to leak it.Let me tell you why I know I was fired.

Because during the season, after some of the Kyra Lacey news broke, there were people on our network, along with me, that said something about it.Both of those people apologized, as did I.I didn't want to.I was told I couldn't come to work if I didn't.And at that point, I said, well, I can't come to work tomorrow because I don't believe I did anything wrong.Some conversations happened and we got to that point.

And Outkick wrote an article.about all the people that apologized, two very prominent faces at ESPN.And they praised them for who they were and how they brought this thing back around.And they bashed me, talked about how negative I was, and spoke about me in such a nasty way.And I sent an email at that time to Burke Magnus and Dave Roberts, who were working, because we were on an email talking about how we were going to handle it.And I was very poignant in saying, You have to watch who you listen to about me.

There's certain people who want to paint me as a certain thing, certain people who want to devalue my voice, certain people who, no matter what I do, with all the great I've done, they've never mentioned that.But in this case, there are three people who are very important to this network, who all did the same thing, who all responded in the same way, and only one of us was vilified, and only one of us was a black man.And so, how poignant, how... purposeful is it to make sure that that's the exact same publication that gets the story that I'm going to be fired?Because you know what they're going to do?They're going to praise ESPN.They're going to pump ESPN up for getting rid of the person who stands up for the community.

And they're going to say that these are all the reasons why I didn't belong on TV in the first place.So let's garner as much positive publicity as we can early, before all of these people that you've seen come out on my behalf and say I was the best in the world at the job.And I deserved better.One, I didn't deserve to be laid off or fired.It ain't about money.Two, I didn't deserve to be handled that way.

So let's get ahead of it.And they were going to get ahead of it by leaking it to someone who they know hates them.

me. I would say, bro, how could this be that thought out when they just asked you if we could all, as a crew, come on first take in August?That don't make no sense.When I saw it and how they did it, and how outspoken you are about the community and how, like, you're talking, some people don't agree with your stances and don't like that you were that open on their platforms.To me, it seemed like it was almost, like, buck breaking.

Mm.

Slavery term.You know, where You're the outspoken one.You're alpha.Let's embarrass him so everybody else gets in line.So nobody else talks crazy to us anymore or goes through emails or whatever.Like, no, let's teach him a lesson.

Let's embarrass him on national TV so that they all line up.

Yeah, I think that could be part of it, you know?Like, I also know that this is a private company.They get to make their decisions based on what they want to make them on, on what they want to do.What I do know is they didn't take a vote.This wasn't about the majority, right?This wasn't about the people I work with day to day, because my phone, my phone don't say that.

Production people who ain't worked with me in five, six years, thank you for how you treated me.Thank you for the laughs.Thank you for your professionalism.Thank you for showing up constantly.You know, Monday night, thank you for always, if we didn't have, if we didn't have any talent on a meeting, you were always there.You were always on time.

You were always building things for the other people on that set.Thank you.And so, When the people you work with cry for you, that means the world to me.When I get the messages of like, the fact that I supported you, the fact that I was there for you, means the world to you, like it gave you the legs to stand up and be who you were on TV, like that matters.This was a dictatorship.A person, or a group of persons, very small group, they didn't poll the majority, they didn't ask that question.

Because you ask that question, now you gotta say, even though you told me just how important he was, I don't care.I don't care.I know how important you think he is, and you work with him every day.I don't care how important you think he is. I don't like him.People like me don't like him.They keep calling my phone.

I don't want my phone to ring no more, right?There's other things I'll defend.I'll defend talking about another executive.I'll defend that.I'll defend sabotage.I'll defend getting sued.

I'll defend all those things.What I'm not going to defend is you standing up for Angel Reese and everybody being mad about the way he did it.about what you said about, I'm not going to defend that.No.I'm not going to defend you standing on 10 toes for them all the time.It's not what I'm going to do.

I'm not going to take those calls.And that was the decision that was made.And I believe that that has a large role in why it was made.

Bro, we know how much you love what you do and how hard you work and how passionate you are.And we've seen numerous occasions where we've had opportunities on this show to make X amount of money.And you help us understand that it's not about the money.This is about the quality of the work that we have to put in.and the lives it's going to touch.So we agree with you.

It's not about the money.It's never been about that.It's about your job and simply what you love to do.But when you text me, like all the other people you spoke about, I said, man, this man lying.April Fool's, it ain't even April.I didn't believe him.

But respectfully, I didn't want to respond that way because it caught me off guard.And I was like, ain't no fucking way.These people are that stupid to do one of their best.But people like that.And I ain't saying that because we rock.But I just know what it is.

But even then.You know, I started searching the internet and trying to figure out, like many people might be, like, what happened?Like, what's going on?Is this a Netflix doc situation?Like, what's really going on?And we've been hearing reports about, you know, the disagreement with Peter, right?

They're trying to pit you and Pat against each other.And so many other things people are trying to stir up and figure out what's going on.Like Chan said, like, they're looking or waiting for a scandal.Right?But it's simpler than that.

Oh, yeah.It's no scandal.Let me be very clear.I love Pat McAfee.I think what Pat McAfee set out to do really put in place a blueprint for a lot of us.Like, can we do it and be accepted or received at that level, at that amount of money?

Probably not.He's an anomaly in that way.But I respect and admire what he's built so, so much.Peter Schrager, me and Peter don't have an issue.I would think if you ask him right now, obviously after what went on with us, there's been nobody that's nicer to him.And I do want to address that as well.

Going into last season, that was when I met with the executive and said, hey, look, I can only see one reason why you'll have a problem with me because it's not my work.And I get my schedule.I'm supposed to work Thursday, Friday on get up and first take.I fly in on Wednesday night.That's what my schedule says.So I fly in on Wednesday night.

I never get an email.I never get a text message.Normally you get that about the production.I don't get that.So I wake up in the morning and I was like, well, you know, I'm not working.I'm texting.

Am I off of it?and I cut the TV on, and Taylor and Will are on, which, like, I'm happy for them.Them boys worked hard to get that opportunity, right?Go do your thing.But I was upset, because, wait, you can't call me and tell me that the schedule's changed?I don't deserve the respect of believing that this is my schedule.

And along with some other people, we built Get Up.That joke was dying.Your original idea didn't work.So it was Dan, and it was Marcus, and it was Culture Wednesday with me and Dominique.That's why that show lasted to be what it is that you turned it into now.And the people who I built that with, y 'all just couldn't call me and just tell me.

R .C., we made another decision.And I asked, man.And another thing I'm mad at myself, I begged and begged to be back on that show, because it meant so much to me that we built it and to be on it.And they just kept telling me, people aren't doing both shows.

Dan's doing them.both shows all the time.Damian Woody's doing both shows all the time.Peter Schrager's doing both shows all the time.And so I'm already feeling something.And you go into that Friday, and Greedy had said and Peter had exchanged a couple of times that neither one of them ever played.

And we're talking about CeeDee Lamb.And I tried to be very thoughtful in the way I approached it, because I wasn't trying to say you don't have an opinion because you didn't play.I was trying to say you have a different opinion because you didn't play.And maybe that didn't Maybe I didn't get that across in the right way, right?I can accept that.But then he raises his voice at me.

He's like, don't belittle me and this and this.And in the moment, I'm like, I'm on TV.I'm not going to have that back and forth.Let me be calm.Let me de -escalate this.And let me truly explain what I mean, that the in -helmet perspective is different than the out -of -helmet perspective.

And so we get in the break, man, and I walk off, right?Because I'm upset because I'm knowing what's going to happen because he said I belittled him and he raised his voice at me.And he's like celebrating the segment.Like, it's a great segment.But I'm already knowing the person who loves you don't love me, and they make decisions here, and we just had that happen.And while he's celebrating, I'm just telling him, like, man, like, don't effing disrespect me like that, because I'm knowing what's going to happen.

Now, at this point, I'm standing over here, right?I've gotten out of my chair, which is too away from me. I'm standing over there.And obviously, they recorded, and they showed me the video.And I'm talking to people who've been there for 12 years, man, and they like, we thought you were going to get aggressive.What?The person you've been knowing all this time who never did anything, who's never had an altercation here was going to get aggressive from over there.

So now you're trying to paint this angry black man trope of me that you know is not true, but I'm starting to feel the narrative.I feel what you're doing.You get me on the phone and people are telling me,you got to work better with people.Work better with who?Everybody I work with loves me.

Like, real talk.Everybody I work with, they pause, they F with me the long way.Like, I ain't the best teammate.Hell, Jason Kelsey called me just to tell me that.And so I was just seeing the narrative that was being pushed and seeing the way it was going.And then even that, much like, what happened with OutKick with my firing, they leaked that video.

And when they showing me this video, it's the video from the control room.So if that's gonna get released, that's somebody that works for us.You've been here 12 years, you have this incident, I want people to know that about you.I'm getting calls, we got the video.The video's been leaked.We're gonna show this.

And honestly, I was trying to keep my job at the time.I should've told them, show it.Show him that he celebrated.Show him that I walked away.Show him that I was a 46 -year -old man that said the F word from 15 feet away from somebody.But me and Peter talked.

Me and Peter fixed that.Me and Peter had the conversation.Me and Peter moved on from it, right?And what I wanted to do from him from that point on, because I heard what he said, I never wanted to make him feel that way, whether intentionally or unintentionally.So anything he wanted to do on TV, any point he made, any conversation he wanted to have, I was going to have it with them.I was going to support them.

I was going to be a good teammate, because that's what I did for everybody else.And that was unfortunate, but that's not why I'm fired.

You're a stand -up guy.You've always preached accountability.Looking back over your 11 years at ESPN.12.11, 12.Is there anything you would do differently, or do you leave knowing that you were fully yourself?

Or, you know, what are your thoughts, man?

That's a good question.It depends on when you ask me, you know?Like, you ask me, like, when I see people in public, like OGs and, like, aunties and stuff, and they tell me they proud of me, and they proud of, like, and they proud of, like, the way I represent the community.I wouldn't change anything, because that means the world to me.When I go home and this kid from the West Bank is so accepted in New Orleans now, I wouldn't change that.Never.

All I ever wanted to do was be accepted.you know, and wanted.So, yeah, like that, I wouldn't change, you know?If you ask me, probably the first, like, Monday of football, when all my friends get to do something we did, like, super special together, yeah, I'd probably change it, you know?I'd probably work harder to, like, be who they wanted me to be or, like, build relationships with, like, bosses or executives, you know?Because, like, it's just a relationship game.

It's like I just see these people on TV who aren't better than me, but I know I've never been at the tables they've been accepted at.So yeah, there's some things I think I would do differently because I feel like I let them win.I feel like there's a group of people, a faction of individuals who wanted to devalue my voice, who wanted to take away my platform.I feel like I let them win.Then there's the other side of it of like, my platform isn't as big anyway, or it's not as impactful anyway, if I don't do those things.If I'm not that person, if I'm not authentically me, right?

And it's not even something I can prove that if I was different, they wouldn't have fired me. I can't prove that.Tough.Right?So if I can't prove that, why, I would have hated to be fired being something I wasn't.Oh my gosh, that'd be the worst.Y 'all, man, like my kids.

like, they love me.You know what I'm saying?But I felt like I let them down.

Never.

You know, like, regardless of how much money I was able to save and all the opportunities I was given, that's why I'm so focused on, like, the other people who lost their job.It's like, this helps us, right?My kids get to live a certain way.I get to take care of my parents.I get to help, you know, my brothers and my brother and my nieces and my nephews.so many people because, like, I'm in a place to where I can have excess because of what I can do so good.

And to have that taken away, you know, for whatever it is, if I could have been different in some ways, probably, you ask me on the right day, yeah, I would say I have some regrets.Um...

Sacrifice ain't cheap, man. I know.

You know, the thing, it's like, the thing I just told you I loved comes at a price.

Yep.

Right?I love them both.I love... loved my job.

We know.

I love talking football.I love studying it.I love educating people on it.I love making people laugh about it.I love entertaining people.I love the people I work with, and I love my community.

It doesn't mean I don't love them all.It just means, like, that's the one in particular I could speak from a matter of perspective.

You would still have one if you let the other one go.My opinion.If you stop talking, if you stop doing, you know,racial justice stuff, if you stop talking about injuries, if you stop talking about legs, if you stop doing that, you could still be doing football.Am I wrong?Probably not.

Um, I do know that when I was negotiating this contract, I sent a message about how hard I was working to get this deal done and how grateful I was they had given me the opportunity to work at ESPN.And the message I got back was along the lines of, well, you'll be good if you're here, you'll be good if you're not, you know?It wasn't the, you got some things going on, let me fly out, come talk to you face -to -face, that he's done for other people.So I think this company, in a lot of ways, has been showing me, you know, and finally now, here we are.I had a conversation over the summer with Jeremy Lin, of all people.Kerry Chow, he used to work at ESPN, good friends with Jeremy Lin, called me, he's like, hey, can I give Jeremy your number?

He wants to talk about getting in the business, and you the best I know.You the blueprint.Okay.Having a conversation with Jeremy, he says, what's something, what's a piece of advice you can give me?"I said, build relationships.I said, because you're going to need somebody to stand up for you sometimes.

I said, don't think the work is just enough.And I said, if it's not a part of your being, don't let people know where you stand socially or politically.If you don't feel like you have to stand up for people,that's not what's popular, that would put you in a space of the minority, that would in some way make you a threat, then don't do it.If your job is more important than those things, just be quiet.Because if you do, there could be opposition.

And if you don't have the right relationships, you won't get through it.And I was like, and I'm dealing with that right now, man. I was like, I don't know if I'll be working in the fall.And he said, you?He's like, you're the best in the world.He's like, there's nobody better than you.And he goes, and in 2026, I said, in 2026, brother, that's where we are.

It's just been so many things like that that I think I look back on throughout this situation and you wonder if it could have been different.

Man, R .C., I was trying to figure out who was gonna pass who the tissue.I think all of us were crying.

That was a tough one.

Yeah, that was tough.

I expected anger out of R .C.I ain't gonna lie.I expected you to snap.When we started asking you, I didn't expect you to get emotional, man.You got me going.

I think the beauty in what I'm hearing is, I think that's what this show is.That's what, you know, the pivot, you know, why I was created for moments like this, moments of adversity.Moments that test your resolve, that test your character.But also, you know, the togetherness, the community, banding with each other.And one thing I've noticed in the comments, and I'm becoming creepy, how many people are in support of you?But even on our trip from Baltimore to over here, just the amount of calls and texts, you know, the people that are reaching out to you.

What do you have to say to, you know,to those people that have shown their support?

I think, first of all, to anybody who's called or texted me, the thing they know is I've called or texted back.I am obligated, through the love I feel, to make sure they know I'm grateful.Man, from current players to former players in every sport, to coaches, to, you know, entertainers and actors and comedians.Like, you don't, you don't know the, the reach or the relationships that you have or the way people feel about you when everything is going good.And I'm going to put him out there because, and not even sing them, Isaiah Thomas, Pistons Isaiah.

Yeah.

He called me five times because we played a little phone tag and he goes, he told me, he said, first of all, I want to tell you, I love you.I'm lifting you up.And he goes, and you won't hear from me all the time when it's going well, when you up, but I'll always be here when it's down.And he said, and you're going to come back up again.And during that time, you might not hear from me, but just know.And it meant the world to me.

And not just him, but it was like, that's what you need.And it went from the NFL Live group chat to the Monday Night Countdown group chat to friends, to family, to associates, to players I know, to slight acquaintances, and the stuff people have done for me publicly.The things people have said about me publicly.You know all the time, man, like, when somebody's going through what I'm going through, and when it could be some of the reasons I'm going through it, like, to stand up for me, people like, some people, like, I never met in person.Like, I, I've never been a loner, right?Like, I've always had friends and I've always supported people, but I've also always tried to be like, I'm gonna be good no matter what.

And man, like, I needed it, you know?Like, even though I felt it was coming, I guess one thing to feel like it's coming, it's another thing to get fired.It's another thing for them to be like, we don't want you, you know?And it was just, and it's always just been very hard to hear that a person doesn't like me, who never tried to have a relationship with, who doesn't know me. I wasn't going to win.

But Shaq, you didn't understand what the hell he was saying.But I knew it was love, though.I can tell it was love.I understood he loved me.Hey, Chad, the one thing I understood was, I love you, brother.

Like, I understood that, man.And I do want to say, though, too, man, to everybody, thank you so much.You don't know what your calls, your text messages, your DMs, your tweets, your threads, Just all of it, man.And the thing I know is, if this is the topic this week, next week it'll be less a topic.By the time the season starts, it'll probably be no topic.And I'll be sitting at home on the first Thursday of the season or Friday or especially the first Monday.

you know, and I love football.So I'm gonna be watching the game and probably be watching the pregame and it's going to be hard, you know, and like at that point, you know, everybody's life is going to move on and it should, right?Like I'm alive and I'm fine, you know, because this career is not over.So this is like a very weird thing I'm about to say probably.I know when football ends, it's like a death, right?But it was like, I got to say, hey, you guys can put me to sleep.

Right?I was able to say, guess what?I am ready to go.You know what I'm saying?This wasn't.Bro, like, I worked so hard at that.

And I was like, man, I'm going to work at ESPN until I stop doing TV.I already had my plans that, like, I was going to do some old man stuff.You know what I'm saying?Like, I wanted to be like Burm.Like, just pop in and be great.Then go home.

You know what I'm saying?Like, that was my plan.

And that can't be my plan no more.

Everybody I ever worked with, behind the scenes, in front of the camera, to, obviously, NFL Live crew, to Steve and A, to the Dave McKinnons, the people at First Take, to Monday Night Countdown, Marcos, obviously everybody I'm on the desk with, Eesh.Man, I love y 'all so much, man.And it's like, I wanna see everybody win.Like, I wanna see those shows flourish.I wanna see y 'all flourish.So, it ain't no...

like, I'm not here, like, harboring no hate, man.

Arcee, I know, man, this is your platform.Obviously, we know this is where you would answer the questions, but we've asked you enough questions.Actually, I have a question for the execs.I really want to know, is it all of the things that he's done for the company, all of the great things that he's done for a community that needs him, the leadership that he's shown, the people that he's defended?He's a black man in America.We know when black men are overly qualified, they become a threat.

And for me, it pisses me off because I know how hard he works.I know how passionate he is.And to see somebody behind the scenes that can make this decision, and I don't want to taint this whole entire interview, but I think just like I want to know, everybody else wants to know why.Why was Ryan Clark selected?It's just mind boggling.It doesn't make sense.

You know, what that brings to mind is a speech my mom gave me. when I was younger, she told me, you got to work twice as hard, you got to be twice as good, you got to be twice as smart.And she said, even then, they may not pick you.I thought I had got to a point where I'd be picked.But I mean, it's like I say, though, just because I wasn't picked, that don't mean I ain't chosen.And I can't answer the question about why.

R .C., man, we love you.You know that, too.Yeah.But this doesn't define you, bro.

what you did for DeMar, the DeMar Hamlin night, the Greg Brooks.And to be honest, man, I like the football side of it.I like you giving Dan O 'Hale on that little dry erase board, whatever thing y 'all got.I enjoy that stuff.I love football, but you are, you're one of the best at it.Yeah.

The last thing I'll say before we go.One is I love y 'all both.I love y 'all like brothers.So sometimes I don't like y 'all.Sounds about right.Just being honest.

Like sometimes like, man, you know, and then there's sometimes like last weekend where I get to hang around y 'all a lot.And I'm like, man, they are so cool in that capacity.I just really like being around them, you know?So thank you for this, for giving me this space to express this.I wanted to do it with y 'all.When the thing happened with Peter, I didn't know what was next.

I didn't know what people thought of me.And I'm not going to say his name, but there's someone very high up at ESPN who doesn't say a lot, so much so you really be feeling like he don't mess with you.I was in the trailer the first Monday night, calls me out of the trailer, and I was like, oh, if it ain't be somebody else telling me how stupid I am.And he told me, he said, I don't know about everybody else.I don't know about every other show.I don't know what they're going to take you off.

I don't know what they're going to put you on.I don't know about that.But you'll be on Monday Night Countdown.You'll work at halftime.You're going to finish every night with Scott, because you the best we have.And I remember walking back to the trailer, like, skipping.

You know what I'm saying?Because I was so down, and I was hiding it.Because I was like, man, they're going to try to get me over this.Like, do they even?And I just remember walking back and being like, he's right.I am actually the best.

And to you, and you know who you are.I'm not sure you'll watch it.Thank you.Because as I walk away, and I know certain narratives will be spun, certain lies will be told, certain clips will be played.and compiled to make me seem like one thing over 12 years where I did so much, where I was nominated for three Emmys, where I won an Emmy, where shows this year, just in this alone, NFL Live, Monday Night Countdown, and E60 I was a part of, all were nominated for awards.Two of those trophies come home with me.

When I'm on TV, they don't put four sports Emmys on there.They never did that for me. I just want to say, when I walk away, because of you, because of that conversation on Monday night, I walk away knowing that I was the best y 'all had.