An eleven-year journey came to an end in the blink of an eye when Ryan Clark learnt he had been let go by ESPN, while on set for his show. On his podcast, Clark was asked what he’d change from his tenure — that is where the dam broke for the veteran analyst.

“When I go home … and this kid from the West Bank is so accepted in New Orleans now; I wouldn’t change that, you know, never,” Clark said. “All I ever wanted to do was be accepted. … So yeah, I wouldn’t change.

Clark had to pause for a good few seconds as he tried to contain his emotions, while tears kept falling. Even while he spoke, his voice was choked up.

“I’d probably work harder to like be who they wanted me to be, or like build relationships with like bosses or executives, you know, because it’s just a relationship game. I just see these people on TV who like aren’t better than me, but I know I’ve never been at the tables they’ve been accepted at. So yeah, you know, there’s some things I think I would do differently because I feel like I let them win.”

Here’s what Laura Rutledge said:

“Family 🫶” Mina Kimes added.

“I wanted y’all to hear from @Realrclark25 first before I commented, but now that he’s told his story… RC, you mean so much to many of us. “You gone come back up again”. Always wishing you the best ❤️”

Clark was among a notable few whose careers came to an end at ESPN. He joined veteran MLB announcer Karl Ravech, who spent more than 30 years with the network. NFL insider Tom Pelissero and First Take co-host Cam Newton were also among the employees laid off by the network.

Puck’s John Ourand reported in April that 30 employees were set to be dismissed by the network in the coming weeks.

An internal memo written by ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro claims that the acquisition of NFL Network had forced the company to make some “difficult decisions.” However, Clark thought that ESPN was only beating around the bush.

“Let me put this to bed — I wasn’t laid off, I was fired,” Clark said. “They’re using layoffs as a cover and a camouflage for what they already intended to do. But there was no cause for it. So because there was no cause for it, you couldn’t just fire me; you had to wait ’til the layoffs so you could camouflage it and veil it.”