ESPN’s Ryan Clark is becoming the Worldwide Leader in apologies.
Bad blood from the viral on-air dispute Friday between Clark and Peter Schrager spilled off-the-air and led to an “uncomfortable” confrontation on the set of Get Up, industry sources told Front Office Sports.
While there don’t appear to be any immediate repercussions, the incident might not be over for Clark, who publicly apologized to Schrager on X/Twitter Friday.
It was the second public apology Clark has had to make about his commentary since May.
The Schrager moment happened on Get Up Friday as Mike Greenberg was dissecting the Cowboys’ 24-20 loss to the Eagles with analysts Clark, Dan Orlovsky, and Tedy Bruschi.
During a debate over whether Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb’s dropped passes were to blame for the Cowboys’ loss, Clark big-footed Schrager on national TV.
“Are you saying A.J. Brown had a better day than CeeDee Lamb?” Schrager asked Orlovsky. Clark, a 13-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion, interjected to Schrager, “We shouldn’t do this on TV, so I apologize if people think this is rude: That’s the non-player in you.”
Schrager, an acclaimed NFL journalist hired by ESPN in April after a decade on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, appeared to bristle at the insult. “Oh, stop… Ryan, don’t belittle me like that,” he said. “I can come in and say, as three ex-players are saying one thing, and give an alternative perspective.”
Get Up host Greenberg appeared to make a “cut” sign with his hands. But Clark plowed on, telling Schrager: “What I need for you to do is not get mad, and let me finish for once.” (You can watch the segment here via Awful Announcing).
The tense moment on the normally light-hearted show went viral on social media. While live-tweeting Friday’s Chiefs-Chargers game, Clark apologized to Schrager. In the wording of his mea culpa, he appeared to confirm their “interaction” continued off the air.
“Today, I had an interaction with my colleague @PSchrags both on and off the air that I regret,” he tweeted. “I have apologized to Peter and taken accountability with ESPN leadership. I value working with Peter and look forward to this season. My focus will remain on professionalism, teamwork, and being a better teammate moving forward.”
Clark rose quickly after joining ESPN in 2015. He won a Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Personality/Studio Analyst” in 2023 and was promoted to the casts of NFL Live and Monday Night Countdown. But the outspoken analyst and host of The Pivot podcast has been having a rough 2025.
The former Super Bowl champion with the Steelers was ripped on social media earlier this week for saying that Tom Brady, holder of nearly every major passing record, was not a “generational” talent.
“I think John Elway was a generational talent. I think Patrick Mahomes is a generational talent. I don’t think Tom Brady, I don’t think Drew Brees, I don’t think Peyton Manning are generational talents,” Clark said on Get Up.
Previously this year, Clark apologized to Robert Griffin III’s wife Grete for bringing her name into a beef the former teammates were having about Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and race. “To Grete, I was out of line, I was out of bounds, I apologize,” Clark said via a video on Twitter. Clark also issued an apology to his own family for making them deal with the fallout from “my stuff.”
The Clark-Schrager dust-up happened the Friday before one of ESPN’s biggest three-day stretches of the year, including its coverage of College Gameday, the U.S. Open Men’s and Women’s Final, Michigan at Oklahoma, and its first Monday Night Football game of the season. So it’s not surprising ESPN brass didn’t react immediately, industry sources said. The network declined comment for this story.
But here are four reasons why Clark could be on thin ice with the brass in Bristol.
- Schrager is a key hire who was personally recruited by Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content.
The network obviously has big plans for Schrager, putting him on everything from Get Up and First Take to NFL Live, SportsCenter and The Pat McAfee Show. Right out of the gate, ESPN put the former GMF host alongside its top insider Adam Schefter on its NFL Draft coverage. Schrager’s slated to be a sideline reporter on MNF when there are doubleheaders. He’s also expected to play a key role in covering ESPN’s first Super Bowl in 2027. Bottom line: It’s not a good career move for any ESPN talent to go after Schrager as he gets his feet under him with the four letters. - Network brass hates ESPN-on-ESPN violence.
Despite its reputation as a hotbed for diva-like behavior, ESPN actually values teamwork and hates when the children are publicly fighting with each other. It doesn’t matter how big you are, they will come down on you for belittling colleagues. See: former president John Skipper suspending Tony Kornheiser from Pardon the Interruption for two weeks in 2010 for making “hurtful and personal comments” about Hannah Storm’s form-fitting outfits. Or: Skipper dumping Bill Simmons in 2015 for what Skipper called his “repeated lack of respect for this company and more importantly the people who work here.” ESPN had previously suspended Simmons for three weeks for repeatedly calling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a “liar” on his podcast. - Clark is a repeat offender. There’s only so many times you can screw up and apologize before ESPN decides your talent is not worth the headache.
- Clark’s suggestion to Schrager that a non-player can’t comment on gameplay runs counter to what ESPN does across the board with a range of talent that never played the game.
If Clark really believes non-players shouldn’t opine on the NFL, what does that say about Greenberg, Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, Stephen A. Smith, Mina Kimes, and other ESPN colleagues who never put on a helmet? Are diners not equipped to evaluate a restaurant’s food if they’ve never been a chef? To use that argument in 2025 seems beneath an Emmy-winning analyst.
