Ryan Clark was pulled off ESPN while the broadcast was on air. This occurred unexpectedly, and the moment didn’t go unnoticed. His broadcast partner, Mina Kimes, appeared visibly affected by the news. She continued through the segment, but something had clearly shifted.

Here’s what happened: Ryan Clark was on NFL Live sharing his opinions. After a scheduled break, the rest of the analysts, including Kimes, returned, but Clark was nowhere to be found.

Ryan Clark found out he was losing his job while he was still on air. According to The Athletic‘s Andrew Marchand, ESPN broke the news to him during Monday’s taping of ‘NFL Live,’ and Clark understandably didn’t hang around for the rest of the show. You could actually see it happen.

For most of the broadcast, Clark shared screen space with Mina Kimes, Laura Rutledge and Adam Schefter, four boxes on the screen like usual. Then the final segment rolled around, and it was down to three.

Kimes hasn’t put out a statement about any of it, but her mood on air told its own story. She looked rattled. One moment she was locked into the rhythm of the show, and the next, something had clearly shifted, even though viewers weren’t told what.

Clark’s ESPN run goes back to 2015, when he transitioned from an undrafted free agent playing career into an analyst role. He built a real presence there over the years, showing up regularly on NFL Live, First Take, SportsCenter and GetUp, and on Monday Night Countdown.

He even picked up an Emmy along the way.

As for why now, Marchand reported ESPN originally planned to tell Clark on Tuesday, but moved things up after media questions about his status started circulating, and the network got worried the news would leak before he heard it directly.

And this might not be the end of it. Pro Football Talk reported additional layoffs are expected throughout the week, though who else could be affected is still unclear.

The Athletic reported Clark’s salary is more than two million dollars, and ESPN’s executives “soured” on Clark.

One point came in September last year, during a Get Up discussion about the Dallas Cowboys‘ season opener and CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown’s performance. Clark told Peter Schrager, “That’s the non-player in you,” after Schrager pushed back in Lamb’s defense. Schrager said it felt like a low blow, and Clark later apologized on X.

So far, Clark himself hasn’t said anything publicly about the firing.