It was October 2007\u2014peak pigskin season for all who celebrate\u2014but Ryan Clark, then a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was crying in the bathroom of a hospital room. Daggers in his side, 104 degree fever. Clark carries the trait for sickle cell anemia, something he\u2019d always known, but he had just played in Denver and the altitude lit his condition ablaze. How bad was it? Clark wasn\u2019t just ready to die; in that bathroom, he\u2019d made peace with it. If it\u2019s time, I\u2019m comfortable with that<\/em>, Clark thought.<\/p>\n In walked the surgeon … and he looked exactly like Tom Brady<\/a>, the nemesis of all defensive backs. Of course he did. It figures<\/em>, Clark said to himself, that if I die, the dude treating me would look like this man<\/em>. Turns out the Brady look-alike brought a very TB12 approach to health care: success at all costs. He told Clark bluntly that he was taking out his spleen. \u201cI don\u2019t even care what the affliction is,\u201d Clark remembers him saying.<\/p>\n \u201cThat moment obviously saved my life,\u201d Clark tells me over Zoom, nearly 18 years later. Steelers fans know the next chapter by heart: Clark won Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy alongside Troy Polamalu. The former undrafted free agent from LSU then retired in 2015 after a 13-year career. It was a sports-movie<\/a> ending, and another player\u2014maybe most players\u2014might have retired home to Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n Not Ryan Clark. I\u2019m chatting with the man today because of everything that\u2019s happened after he shed the black and gold. Clark, now 46, has spent years building what is suddenly a skyrocketing media career, spanning multiple ESPN programs as well as The Pivot Podcast<\/em>, the \u00fcber-popular interview show he cohosts with fellow former players Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder. In other words: The man is busy.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what today is,\u201d Clark says, entirely serious, while snacking on gummy bears. In fact, the first time we meet, I catch him in the late afternoon on a Wednesday in August. You can forgive him for being a little turned around. Consider his Monday and Tuesday schedule: Wake up for a 5:30 a.m. haircut; go to ESPN\u2019s New York City studio for First Take<\/em>; hop in a car to ESPN\u2019s HQ in Bristol, Connecticut; host NFL Live<\/em>; drive back to New York; work on The Pivot<\/em>; then help his son, Jordan\u2014who, at the time, was just signed to the New York Jets\u2019 practice squad\u2014with moving. \u201cYeah, that\u2019s actually kind of light,\u201d he deadpans.<\/p>\n On both TV hits and the pod, Clark has forged a reputation as a says-it-like-he-sees-it pundit. And given the state of sports media nowadays\u2014a hot-take, context-optional minefield that rewards showmanship from its talking heads\u2014it\u2019s hardly a surprise that he\u2019s found himself at times walking a fine line between being the type of controversial personality that ESPN values highly (see Smith, Stephen A.<\/a>) and someone who takes it too far.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, he engaged in an ugly public spat with another former player turned commentator, Robert Griffin III. And in early September, Clark faced serious blowback after he dismissed fellow NFL analyst Peter Schrager during a debate on ESPN\u2019s Get Up <\/em>by saying, \u201cThat\u2019s the non-player in you.\u201d Schrager was furious, and Clark later tweeted out an apology.<\/p>\n In fact, there\u2019s a good chance that haters and trolls are flooding his DMs with outrage right now. But the former hard-hitting safety has learned over time to absorb those shots and not strike back. \u201cI had this terrible trait of wanting to be understood,\u201d Clark tells me. \u201cBut I\u2019m not arguing or debating or having a conversation with a person that wants to understand me. I\u2019m having a conversation with a person that believes they\u2019re right<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Hell has frozen over in Pittsburgh. White-crusted layers of ice slow the three rivers that surround the city center. In the North Shore, Pittsburghers trudge through dirty snow, mounting Santa inflatables on top of pickup trucks and blasting J-Kwon\u2019s \u201cTipsy\u201d through bitter air rife with the smell of burnt pork. One wrong step and you\u2019ll trip over a crumpled can of shitty light beer. Together, these things mean one thing, and one thing only: December football. <\/p>\n It\u2019s Week 15 of the NFL season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are two and a half hours away from a Monday Night Football tilt with the Miami Dolphins. Inside Acrisure Stadium, which Aaron Rodgers and company call home, ESPN staff members put the finishing touches on the Monday Night Countdown <\/em>stage. The pregame show, which includes ESPN mainstays Clark, Scott Van Pelt, Jason Kelce, and Marcus Spears, runs from 6:00 p.m. to 15 minutes before kickoff at 8:00 p.m. Just about everyone, from Van Pelt (blowing hot air onto his bare hands) to ESPN techies (dressed like they\u2019re about to operate snow plows, not cameras), is clearly feeling all 16 degrees of temperature.<\/p>\n You know who doesn\u2019t seem to mind? Ryan Clark.<\/p>\n Before going onstage, Clark holds an impromptu science experiment for those in his immediate vicinity. \u201cWant to know what happens to water in Pittsburgh?\u201d he asks, holding a Fiji water bottle. He slopes it downward, the contents looking a lot like the rivers outside\u2014wordlessly reminding us that one, he\u2019s used to this, and two, he\u2019s used to this<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI had this terrible trait of wanting to be understood. But I\u2019m not arguing or debating or having a conversation with a person that wants to understand me. I\u2019m having a conversation with a person that believes they\u2019re right<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/section>\n Near the end of his playing days, in 2013 and 2014, Clark began popping up as a guest analyst on ESPN. The transition from the gridiron to the booth is notoriously tricky, but Clark was a revelation. His combination of charisma, genuine football IQ, and willingness to offer tough love on air was so rare that the network hired him as a full-time NFL analyst as soon as he retired. Since then, he\u2019s been a fixture. In 2022, he started The Pivot Podcast<\/em>, interviewing everyone from current NFL icons (Saquon Barkley) to just plain icons (try Barack Obama) with his cohosts.<\/p>\n Every great sports analyst has a superpower\u2014think Charles Barkley\u2019s self-deprecation or Pat McAfee\u2019s manic, well, everything\u2014and for Clark, it\u2019s a drive to tackle the complicated questions his peers won\u2019t touch. On The Pivot<\/em>, Clark went deep with Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jack Bech about losing his brother to a deadly New Year\u2019s pickup-truck attack in New Orleans. In another episode, Clark broke down on camera after talking to former LSU football captain Greg Brooks Jr. about suffering disabilities in the wake of a brain tumor.<\/p>\n Clark tells me that his interview style is influenced by how he parents his three children. If your kid gets in a fight, don\u2019t ask them to tell you what happened. Ask them why<\/em>. \u201cIf you can help someone explain the why of adversity, they\u2019re more comfortable answering that question,\u201d says Clark. \u201cBecause it\u2019s truly the important question.\u201d <\/p>\n In 2022, Clark started The Pivot Podcast<\/em>, interviewing everyone from current NFL icons (Saquon Barkley) to just plain icons (try Barack Obama) with his cohosts Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Before the Pittsburgh-Miami game (which the home team would win in a landslide), Clark and Spears, a former Dallas Cowboy defensive end, take to the sparsely populated field for a live interview with Dolphins running back De\u2019Von Achane. Clark and Spears chat up the stoic 24-year-old about Miami\u2019s turbulent season so far. Sure, the team lost Tyreek Hill to injury, but the leadership of oft-unconventional head coach Mike McDaniel has led to a recent resurgence. \u201cI have one quick question for you,\u201d Clark begins, a Skycam whirring overhead. \u201cHow does it feel to know that Texas A&M has beat LSU for the last time, now that we have [head coach] Lane Kiffin?\u201d Achane, an Aggies alum, breaks into a smile. No comeback. Clark retakes the stage, where he spends pregame confronting an especially chaotic weekend in the league: Micah Parsons\u2019s torn ACL. Kansas City\u2019s shattered playoff hopes. The Buffalo and New England showdown, arguably game of the year. The return of the 44-year-old <\/em>quarterback Philip Rivers. Oh, and superstar Patrick Mahomes\u2019s season-ending injury, which complicates the ride-off-into-the-sunset retirement plans of one Travis Kelce. <\/p>\n \u201cI just want to say this: It would feel extremely odd <\/em>if somebody other than Patrick Mahomes throws Travis Kelce\u2019s last completion,\u201d Clark says before a commercial break, with the tight end\u2019s brother sitting to his left. He ain\u2019t wrong.<\/p>\n During commercial breaks, Clark doesn\u2019t dip inside for even a minute to return feeling to his extremities. Instead, he checks his phone, dutifully signs Steelers fans\u2019 Terrible Towels, and catches up with what feels like anyone and everyone around the field. During one break in particular, he looks at the growing crowd, lifts his arms up, and unleashes his hundredth or so declaration of the day.<\/p>\n \u201cWE GOTTA WIN!!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n He ain\u2019t wrong about that one either. As a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Clark won Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy alongside Troy Polamalu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Near the end of every episode of The Pivot<\/em>, Clark asks his guest a simple query: What\u2019s your pivot moment? It could be as heavy as the death of a parent or as petty as a high school coach who said they\u2019d never make it. So I ask Clark for his pivot moment. The first? Being saved by the Tom Brady doppelg\u00e4nger doctor. And the second? \u201cThe most recent one,\u201d he says, turning somber, \u201cwas the RG3 situation.\u201d<\/p>\n His feud with former ESPN personality Robert Griffin III began in May, when Griffin suggested in a video posted to X that WNBA stars Angel Reese (who is Black) and Caitlin Clark (who\u2019s not) must hate each other. Clark posted a video response on X, saying, \u201cThe one thing we know about RG3 is he\u2019s not having conversations at his home about what Black women have to endure in this country,\u201d referring to Griffin\u2019s two marriages to white women. Cue an ugly and widely covered feud between the two NFL vets.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it happened again, would I do it?\u201d Clark asks me during our first meeting. \u201cYes. Would I do it in a different way? Probably. But the way I did it was why it was impactful to people. It also gave the people who are part of all these conservative sites a crack to attack me that I wish I didn\u2019t give them.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark\u2019s response is to keep grinding. The NFL season means a heavy load at ESPN, but he also wants to scale The Pivot<\/em> into a larger media endeavor with more podcasts. Bet on it happening sooner rather than later. Clark again returns to his health scare in Denver. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest pivot moment in my life, because it changed my perspective on doing things and not waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n With that, Clark says goodbye and logs off. He\u2019s on to the next thing\u2014whether that\u2019s SportsCenter<\/em> or just dinner, finally\u2014and damn if he\u2019s going to wait for me, you, or the next person brave enough to cast a stone at everything he\u2019s built.<\/p>\n As Esquire’s senior entertainment editor, Langmann edits coverage of film, television, sports, and video games. During his seven years at Esquire, he’s interviewed celebrities and athletes such as Matthew McConaughey, Terry Bradshaw, Steph Curry, Carrie-Anne Moss, Josh Brolin, and more. Langmann has also contributed several essays to the magazine, which range from the time he learned how to ride a bike as an adult, to the time he ingested a dangerous amount of caffeine in the name of journalism. \u00a0All of that said, Esquire readers might know him best from his chaotic time recapping Westworld. He’ll never forgive HBO for taking it away from him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 7 min read It was October 2007\u2014peak pigskin season for all who celebrate\u2014but Ryan Clark, then a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was crying in the bathroom of a hospital room. Daggers in his side, 104 degree fever. Clark carries the trait for sickle cell anemia, something he\u2019d always known, but he had just played … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ryan-Clark-on-Pivot-Podcast-ESPN-and-Robert-Griffin-III.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13919,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13917\/revisions\/13919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ryan](\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dsc02812-1-694306049f8c9.jpg\" "\\"ryan")
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