ESPN NFL commentator and analyst Ryan Clark released a nearly five-minute message to the New York Jets' Aaron Rodgers on Wednesday for his “hypocrisy” as the beef between the two has taken another turn.
Rodgers started the commotion on “The Pat McAfee Show,” which airs on ESPN, when he said last week that the network has spewed a litany of “unfounded or asinine” takes, per Awful Announcing. Clark responded on “First Take” by calling out Rodgers as “tone deaf” and a “fraud” — for being on a hot-take show with former athletes (like McAfee and A.J. Hawk) and three others who have not played professionally.
On Wednesday, Clark took it to a new level by recounting his accolades as a former player and firing off facts about Rodgers to prove the point that the Jets QB doesn’t make sense.
“You’ve decided to analyze me, and in analyzing you, what I know is your QBR is 21st,” Clark said. “I know that you’re the quarterback of a 4-10 team who has to win the last three games of the season to even be equal to what last year’s team was without you.”
In Rodgers' rant Tuesday, he clapped back at the media — not naming Clark by name but clearly targeting him — in asking for his vaccination status because “then when you say things about me, people can at least be like, ‘Oh you are captured by the multimillion-dollar propaganda Skyhawk and you’re still upset about it,” .... whatever that means.
Clark on Wednesday said, yes, he is vaccinated because he doesn’t have a spleen or gallbladder.
“So you can stop trying to trick people into thinking that we want to talk about (the vaccination status) above the stink of your film,” Clark said. “I’ve never heard it one more time after your incident, and the only reason we spoke about it then was because, based on your vaccination status, it was going to determine how long you were out. And, also, people didn’t care that you weren’t vaccinated. They cared that you were slimy about it. They cared that you were deceitful about it, and they cared that you had this air of arrogance when answering questions about it.”
Rodgers, who is the NFL’s most outspoken anti-vaccine player, was largely silent on the issue since being traded to the Jets in April 2023. He found himself in the middle of a controversy after he wasn’t truthful about his vaccination status in 2021.
He skirted around language in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, which required players to be vaccinated, saying he was “immunized” from the virus, but not clearly stating how.
“Now, let me be clear because I know you want us to list these things,” Clark said. “My name is Ryan Clark. Played 13 years in the NFL, been to two Super Bowls. I have as many rings as you do (one),” as he listed his other achievements, which include famous guests on his Emmy-nominated podcast “The Pivot” like Jets wide receiver Davante Adams and actor/comedian Kevin Hart.
