After a 13-year NFL career as a safety, Ryan Clark retired in February 2015 and shortly after joined ESPN as an NFL analyst. Now, 11 years, multiple shows later, and after winning honors like the Emmy, the network has abruptly parted ways with Clark. And hearing that decision, veteran sports talk show host Larry Krueger of The Krueg Show has shared his honest opinion.

“Clark is nauseating,” Krueger wrote on X. “I’m so glad he’s gone. Whenever he appeared, I turned the channel. Obviously others did as well, probably in great #s.”

According to reports, the ESPN executives originally intended to formally deliver the news to Ryan Clark on Tuesday morning alongside other affected staff. However, on Monday afternoon, the situation changed. Several media inquiries began flooding ESPN about Clark’s job and management pulled the trigger immediately.

“Clark was on NFL Live today, but was told during the program that he was being let go, according to sources. He did not finish the program. ESPN was expected to inform him tomorrow morning when it is anticipated the network will inform more employees of the layoffs,” wrote Andrew Marchand of The Athletic on X.

The situation unfolded in the middle of an NFL Live filming on Monday when Ryan Clark was already on set. However, during a commercial break, the ESPN officials informed him about their decision to part ways with him. He was eventually pulled from the set and did not return to finish the second half of the program. Amid these developments, Clark’s on-air colleague, Mina Kimes, reportedly appeared shocked.

While the abrupt exit shocked many, ESPN had its reasons for the split. Earlier this year, ESPN’s parent company, Disney, completed a $3 billion deal to absorb NFL Network and NFL Media assets, giving the NFL a 10% equity stake in ESPN. With two full media workforces now under one corporate roof, Disney opted to cut several roles/jobs.

“Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney,” CEO Josh D’Amaro wrote in his memo issued to employees. “Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs. As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company and have begun notifying impacted employees.”

The layoffs are part of a broader corporate mandate from Disney to shave down operating budgets across its entire sports media portfolio. And Ryan Clark, who was making over $2 million annually, happened to be one of the big names to get affected by the move.

Although Krueger did not explicitly state why he seemed happy with the move, his dislike towards Clark was evident. One reason could be due to his infamous incident with sportscaster Peter Schrager on the September 5, 2025 episode of ESPN’s Get Up, where Clark dismissed Schrager’s football analysis by citing his lack of playing experience, leading to a heated confrontation.

While Krueger’s thoughts on Clark’s layoff were clear, not everyone is on board with Ryan’s firing.

Emmanuel Acho says ESPN’s way of cutting Ryan Clark was “disrespectful”

Ryan Clark’s portfolio with the sports broadcasting network included NFL Live, Monday Night Countdown, First Take, Get Up, SportsCenter, and even DC & RC, where he broke UFC and MMA with Daniel Cormier. But Clark wasn’t just any contributor.

In 2023, Clark won Outstanding Personality/Studio Analyst at the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards, beating legendary names like Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. And former Fox analyst and NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho was seemingly displeased with how ESPN handled Clark’s exit.

“Absolutely cowardly to fire Ryan Clark while he is on air. Wildly disrespectful, and incredibly cowardly,” Acho wrote on X.

Now, it will be interesting to see where Clark lands next. But amid that, ESPN also has to figure out who might lead their first Super Bowl (LXI) coverage next year after the veteran’s termination.