A shocker in the NFL broadcast world yesterday as longtime ESPN analyst (and former Steelers safety) Ryan Clark was fired…in the middle of a show. Clark was on last night’s episode of NFL Live when he found out he’d been let go.
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand writes that ESPN planned to inform Clark of its decision this morning, but reports started appearing last night and they didn’t want him to learn of it that way, so they told Clark during a commercial break and he did not return to the program.
The Athletic also reports that ESPN’s decision “was influenced by his perceived poor verbal conduct, particularly toward colleague Peter Schrager,” with whom Clark often clashed, including during an on-and-off-air incident last year for which Clark eventually apologized. Marchand says many other ESPN employees will also be laid off.
Clark spent eight years with the Steelers and made one Pro Bowl.
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