Ryan Clark Has Been Let Go By ESPN After 11 Years As One Of The Network's Most Recognizable NFL Voices

Ryan Clark is out at ESPN after 11 years. The Athletic's Andrew Marchand broke the news Monday that the former Pittsburgh Steelers safety, who became a full-time ESPN personality after retiring from the NFL in 2015 and built his way from telestrator segments on Scott Van Pelt's late-night SportsCenter to a primary role on NFL Live, First Take, Get Up and Monday Night Countdown, is among the first wave of layoffs the network is making this week. He was earning approximately $2 million per year.

The timing is notable. ESPN is set to broadcast its first-ever Super Bowl in February, and Clark had been expected to play a significant role in that coverage.

Instead he is out before it happens.

Marchand reported that ESPN executives had soured on Clark in part due to an on-air and off-air incident involving colleague Peter Schrager in September 2025, when Clark dismissed Schrager's opinion on the grounds that he had never played in the NFL.

Clark apologized publicly. The relationship between Clark and ESPN management never fully recovered.

Clark also hosts The Pivot podcast and Inside the NFL, which moved to The CW and then became an original series on X. He has other platforms to continue his media career.

His ESPN contract had been contentious as recently as 2024, when he posted publicly that he felt he was worth more than the network was offering before the two sides eventually agreed to a deal. That deal is now over.