Former ESPN teammates Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III continue to wage a personal battle via social media, originating from Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese as the Indiana Fever opened up their regular season against the Chicago Sky on Saturday. Following the play in question, Griffin shared his thoughts on the matter, posting to his personal X account that Angel Reese “hates” Caitlin Clark, despite Reese never saying as much.
Meanwhile, Ryan Clark shared his own perspective on Griffin’s use of the word “hate” during an episode of The Pivot with Fred Taylor. The former NFL All-Pro argued that, because of Griffin’s marriage to Estonian heptathlete Grete Griffin, who is white, Griffin doesn’t understand the challenges young Black women face, suggesting he hasn’t educated himself on the matter.
As a result of Clark’s personal dig, the two traded barbs on social media, resulting in a firestorm of personal attacks that strayed far from the heart of the original conversation—Caitlin Clark’s foul on Reese.
Following Clark’s comments regarding Griffin’s marriage to a white woman, Griffin III fired back with a lengthy post on social media.
“There’s a line you don’t cross in life and Ryan Clark sprinted past it,” Griffin tweeted on X. “Ryan Clark didn’t like my take on Angel Reese hating Caitlin Clark. That’s fine. Disagreement is part of the game. But instead of debating my point, he personally attacked me and my family. That shows how low of a person he is.”
Furthermore, Griffin went on to explain the reasoning behind his opinion on the Reese and Clark incident, aiming to have more of a conversation about the foul instead of engaging in personal attacks. However, he continued to defend his marriage and criticize Clark for the direction of his commentary.
“Ryan Clark said I don’t understand the struggles of Black women because I’m married to a white woman. That’s wrong and way out of bounds,” Griffin posted. “There should be no space in Sports Media for personal attacks, and wives and children are always off limits. You attacked me and my family in a public forum on a level that shows how low of a person you are.”
In addition, Griffin continued to say that Clark was “out of bounds” with his comments regarding his wife, her skin color, his family, and the conversations that take place in his home.
Instead of ending the conversation there, Clark responded to Griffin’s claims and delved deeper into their personal and professional relationship from their time at ESPN.
“I saved you the entire season on MNF. I urged people to let you be you. No matter how corny, how bad a teammate you were, I had your back,” Clark posted on X. “What did you do? Invite someone on your show you know I don’t fool with to ask questions about me, and then hit me weeks later to tell me you’re gonna challenge one of my takes! You’re a phony bro. One of the worst teammates I ever had both on the field and in TV.”
Clark maintained that he didn’t attack Griffin’s wife in his comments.
“In no way tripping on any of it. Know exactly who I am, what I said, why I said it, & who I said it for,” Clark tweeted later in the evening. “I can live with everything else.”
For context, Clark has worked for ESPN since February of 2015 and collaborated with Griffin on Monday Night Countdown. Griffin signed with ESPN in 2021, but he was cut by the network with two years remaining on his deal in August of last year.
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