Nine years ago, Ryan Clark was a new analyst at ESPN, and his former AFC North opponent Trent Richardson was fighting to stay in the NFL.
Clark used an early appearance on First Take to boldly call Richardson “the worst running back of all time” and claim a high school recruit from Baton Rouge named Michael Hollins was better than Richardson.
This week, on Clark’s podcast, The Pivot, Clark apologized directly to Richardson and explained how the viral comments made him a more compassionate analyst.
“I’m sorry for saying that because I’ve grown and matured enough to know now that not only do I not know everything that’s going on football-wise, I don’t know everything that’s going on in the real lives of players,” Clark said.
Years ago on ESPN I said that I’d seen a high school back that was better than Trent Richardson. To me it was hyperbole. It was an exaggerated comparison to make a simple point entertaining, but to him it was so much more.
I owed him an apology. I was humbled to deliver it face… pic.twitter.com/ejJ1gdITL6
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) October 19, 2024
Clark detailed how he tried to take an observation or trend early in his media career and build it into an interesting take—sometimes for the worse.
“I was more focused on the value of the entertainment than the value of the person,” Clark told Richardson. “You were a learning experience for me because after I say that, I learn all of these other things about your life. You taught me that before I worry about what the film says or what other people are telling me is the reason a person isn’t playing well, try to learn why the person isn’t playing well. And in saying that they aren’t, talk about what the film says, not what adds the most entertainment value.”
In the episode of The Pivot, Richardson details his experience as what many might consider an NFL Draft “bust” with the help of his mentor Fred Taylor, cohost of The Pivot.
When Clark criticized him on First Take, Richardson was starting a last-gasp contract with the then-Oakland Raiders to try to salvage his career. Richardson revealed on The Pivot that he struggled with predatory business relationships, dishonest management, and issues in his personal life while trying to make it in the NFL.
In apologizing for his comments about Richardson, Clark also strives to set a precedent in sports media for treating athletes as real humans as often as possible.
