After retiring from professional football as a Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowler with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Clark joined ESPN and spent more than a decade with the network. During that time, he also teamed up with fellow NFL veterans Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder to launch The Pivot Podcast through the Shots Podcast Network. Now, following his departure from ESPN, Clark has opened up about what the podcast means to him and why it has given him the freedom to be more authentic than traditional television ever could.

“Not everything I’ve said on this platform has worked in my favor, but I’ve always shown up as my authentic self. I’ve never tried to be anyone else. That’s why last Friday meant so much to me,” Clark wrote on X, while also sharing how his journey at The Pivot podcast started in 2022. “@thepivot gave me the space to be fully me—to smile, laugh, cry, clap my hands when I talk, & embrace every emotion.”

It’s been a week since ESPN parted ways with Clark during his appearance on NFL Live. Since then, Clark has clarified his stance on his departure and how the network’s decision affected him. During one of the episodes of The Pivot podcast, Clark broke down while admitting that he’d never change a thing when asked whether there was anything he could have done differently.

The latest comments from Clark have surfaced right after T.J. Moe’s criticism, where he noted:

“Embarrassing. All of the men crying in the media. Embarrassing. Cut it out. Cry in private if you need to. No shame in shedding the occasional tear in private. All of this public crying is truly embarrassing.”

While there was a mixed reaction from everyone about the firings, Clark believes that his podcast has provided him with a way to express himself for who he actually is. That carries significant weight, considering Clark has recently called ESPN a dictatorship in one of his podcast episodes.

“This was a dictatorship. A person or a group of persons, a very small group, they didn’t poll the majority. They didn’t ask that question,” Ryan Clark said, while also imitating the network’s attitude toward him, “Even though you told me just how important he was, I don’t care. I don’t care. I know how important you think he is. You work with him every day. I don’t care how important you think he is. I don’t like him.”

At the time of his departure, Clark was reportedly earning $2 million under his existing contract. With the move, his more than decade-long run at ESPN officially came to an end.