Former LSU football standout Ryan Clark was fired from ESPN Monday after over 10 years with the network. Clark was part of a number of layoffs to on-air personalities announced yesterday. Clark, though, was fired abruptly while on ESPN’s “NFL Live” show because OutKick writer Dan Zaksheske had the story early and asked ESPN to comment.
“He actually didn’t even realize Clark was on the air when I sent the email. I don’t pay that close attention to ESPN’s schedule, and I also was shocked to find out after the fact,” Zaksheske said.
Former NFL MVP Cam Newton, College World Series announcer Karl Ravech and insider Tom Pelissero were also included in the layoffs. Many of the firings were a result of redundancy from ESPN’s recent acquisition of NFL Network, but Zaksheske says the writing was on the wall for Clark since he signed his 2024 contract.
“Ryan made it very public that their contract negotiations were not going well. He accused ESPN of not valuing him enough, of thinking he deserved more money; ESPN does not take kindly to that kind of thing,” Zaksheske explained.
Zaksheske also noted the multiple on-air apologies Clark has had to make for comments about Louisiana State Police during the lawsuit filed by former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy’s parents. Zaksheske says he doesn’t expect Clark to get a TV job anywhere else, but he’ll do just fine.
“I think he’s probably going to focus on his podcast. It does well. They’re out doing live shows and all that. Ryan’s made a ton of money. No one should shed a tear for Ryan Clark. It’s tough to get fired in the middle of a show, but it’s the nature of the business,” Zaksheske noted.
Clark posted the following on his X account:
