Speaker 1: My next guest made headlines recently as he and Jet's
Speaker 1: quarterback Aaron Rodgers have exchanged critical takes on each.
Speaker 2: Other this past week.
Speaker 1: He's a super Bowl champion, he's a TV analyst, a
Speaker 1: host of the award winning The Pivot podcast, and he's
Speaker 1: my brother.
Speaker 2: The one and only Ryan Clark is in the house
Speaker 2: right here. What's going on? Big time? How you doing man?
Speaker 2: How's everything?
Speaker 3: What's up? My guy? Listen?
Speaker 4: I'm out here in South Bend, Man just getting ready
Speaker 4: for the college playoff game. But you know, when your
Speaker 4: brother highlan At you needed to get you on the show,
Speaker 4: you show up.
Speaker 2: Damn right.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that because I would have got on you
Speaker 1: if you avoided me, because I understand because this is
Speaker 1: going out there. Know the Dames get ready to go
Speaker 1: to against Indiana. Your son Jordan plays for Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: We'll get into that in just a second. But before
Speaker 1: I do any of that, I want to start off
Speaker 1: by reminding the audience why I asked you to come
Speaker 1: on here today. Earlier this week on the Pat McAfee show,
Speaker 1: the One and Only Aaron Rodgers had this to say,
Speaker 1: referring to you listen up, say.
Speaker 5: Whatever the fuck you about me. I don't care, but
Speaker 5: just before you do it, whether you state your name,
Speaker 5: your accolades, pronouns, whatever it is, just state your vacked
Speaker 5: status so that anything you say afterwards gets put in
Speaker 5: the right light. Just get it out there, because then
Speaker 5: when you say things about me, people can at least
Speaker 5: be like, oh, you are captured by the multi billion
Speaker 5: dollar propaganda siha, and you're still upset about Okay.
Speaker 2: This will help things. Yeah, this is good, this will
Speaker 2: settle it all done. I appreciate that.
Speaker 5: And uh, hey, you know what I mean. Just put
Speaker 5: that in the just so everybody knows where you're coming from.
Speaker 1: You gave a four minute response over social media. I
Speaker 1: played half of that here the other day. As we
Speaker 1: sit here today reflecting on what you said about Amaron.
Speaker 2: Rodgers, talk about why you felt the need.
Speaker 1: To respond to what he had to say and what
Speaker 1: kind of message you wanted to send everybody.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the first thing, steven A, and you
Speaker 4: know it like I do. When we talked about that
Speaker 4: on first Take that day, it was really the first
Speaker 4: time i'd actually heard what he.
Speaker 3: Said on Pat McAfee.
Speaker 4: And when you mentioned our network ESPN while being on
Speaker 4: our network ESPN and many of my colleagues that are
Speaker 4: former players.
Speaker 3: Then I feel like I have the right to respond.
Speaker 4: And you know, he addressed me during that PSA on
Speaker 4: Pat McAfee. He never used my name, but he mentioned
Speaker 4: obviously the lapel pen with my initials. And I think
Speaker 4: the part that rubbed me in a way where I
Speaker 4: felt like I had to respond was the whole vaccination thing,
Speaker 4: because I feel like he uses that to get those
Speaker 4: people who are of like mind when it comes to
Speaker 4: whether it's back vaccination, partisanship, whatever that is, to try
Speaker 4: to ignore the facts. The facts were that what he
Speaker 4: said was hip critical. The facts were that he has
Speaker 4: an issue with people talking about his play in a
Speaker 4: negative way when that's what the film is telling us.
Speaker 4: And you know it like I know it, stephen A.
Speaker 4: I've said a million times to you on your show.
Speaker 4: I think he's the best quarterback I've ever played against.
Speaker 4: But that doesn't in any way negate what we're seeing
Speaker 4: from him now. And then the arrogance, the smugness, the
Speaker 4: entitlement he displays as a person when it comes to
Speaker 4: people who object or people who see things differently than him.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm just tired of it, and I'm tired
Speaker 4: of people allowing him to say whatever the hell he
Speaker 4: wants to say whenever the hell he wants to say
Speaker 4: it without in any way pushing back. And so if
Speaker 4: you can come for me and my colleagues, I can respond,
Speaker 4: and I have no issue standing ten toes down on
Speaker 4: whatever I say.
Speaker 1: It was hard for me to, you know, push back
Speaker 1: on his right to clap at you orc not about
Speaker 1: his game, but when we won on first take that day.
Speaker 1: You know, you're very highly intelligent, brother, You're very selective
Speaker 1: with your words. You know exactly what you're saying, you know,
Speaker 1: and you mean what the hell you say?
Speaker 2: And you called him a fraud, And.
Speaker 1: I want you to explain, expound on why did you
Speaker 1: feel the need to go to that length. And based
Speaker 1: on you saying that, do you feel like that gave
Speaker 1: him the right to respond to you the way that
Speaker 1: he did?
Speaker 4: One first off, he absolutely has a right to respond
Speaker 4: to me in any way that he wants to. Is
Speaker 4: he a grown man, stephen A. And you know, like
Speaker 4: if you feel some type of way, like you get
Speaker 4: to say it the same way I get to respond
Speaker 4: to him.
Speaker 3: Now, what's different about us is.
Speaker 4: The things that I say about him will be viewed
Speaker 4: from a professional perspective, Right, I am an NFL analyst,
Speaker 4: and so in responding to Aaron Rodgers, I need to
Speaker 4: be able to respond with facts. I need to be
Speaker 4: able to respond with things that are true. I can't
Speaker 4: just come out and insult his fashion. I can't just
Speaker 4: come out and say things that make zero sense, like
Speaker 4: your vaccination status, Right, I can't.
Speaker 3: I don't get to do that. I have to be factual.
Speaker 3: I have to be to the point. I have to
Speaker 3: be clear.
Speaker 4: And so, yeah, like if I call him a fraud,
Speaker 4: he can respond to that. But you are a fraud
Speaker 4: if you're sitting on ESPN being paid by Pat McAfee,
Speaker 4: who later admitted that he pays him because of what
Speaker 4: having Aaron Rodgers on his show does for him. I
Speaker 4: was in no way, I ain't no way got a
Speaker 4: problem with that. But to call out former players while
Speaker 4: on a former players show, Yes, that makes you a
Speaker 4: fraud to me. To secondly come back and say that
Speaker 4: you got to state your vaccination status, because your vaccination
Speaker 4: status tells me what perspective and point.
Speaker 3: Of view I view Aaron Rodgers from.
Speaker 4: Like, that's bullcrap, like it's absolutely you know, Like that's
Speaker 4: not why I feel anyway about him. Kirk Cousins, who
Speaker 4: was extremely honest about his vaccination status and staid that
Speaker 4: he would not receive the vaccine, is one of the
Speaker 4: more well liked players in all the NFL.
Speaker 3: Is a player that we all know and.
Speaker 4: Respect for his honesty, for the way he approaches the game,
Speaker 4: for the way he approaches people. He in no way
Speaker 4: receives any of the criticism he receives for his play
Speaker 4: based on that. Aaron Rodgers needs you to believe that,
Speaker 4: because he needs us to believe that he's still the
Speaker 4: same dude he always been. And the one thing that
Speaker 4: I did in making sure I spoke about Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 4: from an unbiased perspective was I included none of the stories.
Speaker 3: I know about him from people who have played with him,
Speaker 3: people who have coached it.
Speaker 1: I want you to start right there, because I see
Speaker 1: you're too good looking, bro to be having the phone
Speaker 1: cutting off half your head. I need you to remove it.
Speaker 1: There you go, right there, right there. Now, we see it. Now,
Speaker 1: we see you all your life. You don't have a
Speaker 1: hell on the hide like I do. You don't have
Speaker 1: the het of God, like I do it right. But
Speaker 1: but listen, let me, let me get back to it,
Speaker 1: because you brought up Aaron Rodgers in terms of you
Speaker 1: didn't bring up some of the things that folks have
Speaker 1: said about them. Let's get to the nuts and bolts
Speaker 1: of it again. You played we I didn't. A lot
Speaker 1: of folks that talk about it didn't. But you talk
Speaker 1: about how you've spoken the players, You've spoken the coaches.
Speaker 2: You're inside those locker rooms.
Speaker 1: You work on Monday Night Countdown, okay, doing Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football for ESPN, your NFL Live, a contributor, you contribute
Speaker 1: to that show. First take, get Up. The list goes
Speaker 1: on and on. Plus you got your own inside the
Speaker 1: NFL show. All right, you talk to a lot of
Speaker 1: people in the NFL. What are the stories about Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers that would make somebody like you say he's a fraud?
Speaker 4: Like I'm you know, and I'm gonna do this, and
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say that's truly out of respect for you.
Speaker 3: Like those are those people's stories got to tell?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 4: And I don't want to do that because I think
Speaker 4: it now opens up a different conversation between me and
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers, which right now, which right now is him
Speaker 4: saying things that are very superficial, very surface level, and
Speaker 4: it's me continuing to do my job in a professional way.
Speaker 4: And I don't have a personal issue with Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 4: And I also know that, like and you know me
Speaker 4: well enough to know I probably moved differently than Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 4: I could say this to you. I reached out to
Speaker 4: Pat McAfee because there were some parts of Aaron's you know,
Speaker 4: sort of appearance on this show where you know, jealousy
Speaker 4: was brought out, and you know, Aaron says at the end,
Speaker 4: you know, there's a respect level, and that's why Pat
Speaker 4: McAfee can get certain guests, and that was why end
Speaker 4: my response to him, I listed the sort of people
Speaker 4: I've set down with on the Pivot right.
Speaker 3: And so I think part of.
Speaker 4: Part of the piece that made me call Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 4: of fraud is his continual deflection of things that matter
Speaker 4: in order to feed his fan base, right, in order.
Speaker 3: To get people who are like minded, people who.
Speaker 4: Would want to rail against someone like me, to find
Speaker 4: a way to get them to do it, you know,
Speaker 4: to talk about like what my vax status is. I mean,
Speaker 4: and you know to say that you looked it up.
Speaker 4: The only thing I ever said about him was he
Speaker 4: was deceitful. And of course, stephen A, I am vaccinated
Speaker 4: because I don't have a spleed, I don't have a gallbladder.
Speaker 4: My immune system is deficient. But I think, to tell
Speaker 4: me what meeting you've been in right where we've said
Speaker 4: before speaking about Aaron Rodgers, make sure we speak a
Speaker 4: certain way because of his back status.
Speaker 2: That never happened.
Speaker 3: That's never happened.
Speaker 4: And so I think the other big piece for me
Speaker 4: is to sit there with Pat McAfee and continue to behave.
Speaker 3: If you're somewhere in some way being railroaded.
Speaker 4: In some way, a narrative is being driven about you
Speaker 4: outside of what the play is. It is fraudulent to
Speaker 4: sit in front of the TV and pretend to build
Speaker 4: up teams and teammates and then to behave in locker
Speaker 4: rooms in ways I have been told he behaves.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it makes you a fraud. Own it, Own who
Speaker 3: you are. Own the times you've gone.
Speaker 4: To the front office to talk about players because they
Speaker 4: aren't behaving in a way that you want them to.
Speaker 4: And I think all of that to me is things
Speaker 4: I don't.
Speaker 3: Agree with with about Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 4: But as I said as well, also stories that are
Speaker 4: supposed to be inside the locker room.
Speaker 1: Ryan Clark, as a football analyst, tell us what we
Speaker 1: have seen from Amaron Rodgers this year on the football field.
Speaker 2: Compare yeah to what we're pasting to see.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think the first thing, Steven is we
Speaker 4: should be seeing something different. He's a forty one year
Speaker 4: old coming off of Achilles. We see how that has
Speaker 4: hampered Kirk Cousins. But what we've seen as a slower
Speaker 4: decision maker, what we've seen is a guy who's mispasses
Speaker 4: that he normally and that we've seen him complete. We've
Speaker 4: seen Aaron Rodgers be the reason the New York Jets
Speaker 4: have lost football games.
Speaker 3: And all of those things are fair to say.
Speaker 4: Is their defense missing pieces that has not made it
Speaker 4: as good as it was in years Aaron Rodgers was there, Absolutely,
Speaker 4: But Aaron Rodgers has gotten everything he's asked for. There,
Speaker 4: stephen A, you wanted Devonte Adams, we got you Devonte Adams.
Speaker 4: You needed Alan Lazard, we got you, Adam Lazar. Garrett
Speaker 4: Wilson was a guy that had thousand yard seasons without you.
Speaker 4: This is a team that was full, that was seven
Speaker 4: to ten last year with Zach Wilson at the helm,
Speaker 4: that has to win three of their games to equal
Speaker 4: that win total, to equal that record. We've seen below
Speaker 4: level play, and I think at some point, you know,
Speaker 4: people are going to point to the stats. Right at
Speaker 4: the end of the season. He may finish for close
Speaker 4: to thirty tubs, he may finish at eight to ten interception,
Speaker 4: and they're going to say, Okay, this is play you
Speaker 4: can win with. But it's the twenty first QBR in all.
Speaker 3: Of the league.
Speaker 4: And when you're behind, you get to throw the ball
Speaker 4: as much as you freaking want to. And so I
Speaker 4: just don't think that he's played at a level that
Speaker 4: has elevated the New York Jets.
Speaker 3: And he also hasn't led at that level where you
Speaker 3: see the.
Speaker 4: Frustration from Garrett Wilson on the sideline, When you see
Speaker 4: Garrett Wilson and he having the training cap arguments that
Speaker 4: they've been having.
Speaker 3: That's a problem.
Speaker 4: When you talk about Robert Salah being fired, part of
Speaker 4: it is Aaron Rodgers play.
Speaker 3: Part of it is also Aaron Rodgers leadership.
Speaker 4: It's Aaron Rodgers rhetoric, and to me, like, none of
Speaker 4: those things beget a leader, especially with the experiences that
Speaker 4: he's had in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Let me get a little person, know what you in
Speaker 1: this regard when he talks about former players implying that
Speaker 1: haven't done what he has done, I want to go
Speaker 1: macro perspective and extend beyond Amaron Rodgers, because I'm quite
Speaker 1: sure he's not the only player that feels that way
Speaker 1: when receiving criticism over the airwaves. My attitude is this, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's the media you get to say we never played.
Speaker 1: It's pundits and commentators, et cetera. But in your case,
Speaker 1: in a case of swagu our colleague Marcus Spears, the
Speaker 1: Dan Alawski's, the Cam Newton's of the world, the Shannon
Speaker 1: Sharps and various others that we're blessed to work with
Speaker 1: every single week.
Speaker 2: Right, y'all have all played. So it's like, how is
Speaker 2: it as a.
Speaker 1: Former player hearing a player say to you all, who
Speaker 1: the hell are y'all?
Speaker 2: When you're actually one of them? I don't understand that.
Speaker 2: How do you take that?
Speaker 3: I mean, isn't that part of the arrogance? Though? Stephen A.
Speaker 4: Is it that part of the fraudulents that if you
Speaker 4: aren't saying the things that he wants you to say, now,
Speaker 4: let's compare resumes. Now, let's compare the things that we've
Speaker 4: accomplished careers. And I get it right, it's a way
Speaker 4: to deflect from what the true issues are. Like for me,
Speaker 4: I'd say, hey, let's sit down and break down the field.
Speaker 4: Then like you know, let's watch it. Let's watch you
Speaker 4: throw the football inside to Mike Williams against the Minnesota
Speaker 4: Vikings and lose that game. And then part of the
Speaker 4: fraud piece for me, stephen A is calling Mike Williams
Speaker 4: out after the Bills game for not running down the
Speaker 4: red line. You tell me what leaders, what good quarterbacks
Speaker 4: do that that throw their other players under the bus.
Speaker 4: We watched this man do that, and that's part of
Speaker 4: why I called him a fraud.
Speaker 3: And so to me, like.
Speaker 4: Him calling out former players doesn't bother me. Right, it
Speaker 4: goes along with his lack of accountability, It goes along
Speaker 4: with his feeling that he is above reproach. And piece
Speaker 4: of it is right and is that there are some
Speaker 4: former analysts who won't call him out about certain things.
Speaker 4: And so now, when I reply in the way I do,
Speaker 4: or when I have the feelings I do, I'm the anomaly,
Speaker 4: right Like I'm the guy that's wrong. I'm the guy
Speaker 4: that has a problem with him, when now I'm just
Speaker 4: a dude that feels a certain way. So I tell
Speaker 4: my truths and so he can say all he wants
Speaker 4: about us.
Speaker 3: I think what I found hypocritical about.
Speaker 4: It was that he was on the show with a
Speaker 4: former player, with two former players, actually a show that
Speaker 4: employs another former player in Darius Butler. And so I
Speaker 4: think for me, it's bro, you're sitting up here getting
Speaker 4: paid money by Pat McAfee to do the exact same
Speaker 4: thing that you're railing against.
Speaker 3: And that's the bigger problem.
Speaker 2: From a macro perspective.
Speaker 1: You being the host of the Pivot, y'all been doing
Speaker 1: a great, great job making major noise. Major props to
Speaker 1: you guys as well, and your career especially. You've really
Speaker 1: ascended and you deserve everything. Let me take that back.
Speaker 1: You deserve more than you're getting.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say. I'm just gonna say it.
Speaker 1: You deserve more than Okay, but I say this to
Speaker 1: you as you look at the media landscape that you
Speaker 1: are now a part of, and you analyze and witness
Speaker 1: today's culture compared to what it used to be. How
Speaker 1: concerned are you, maybe not for yourself, but for the
Speaker 1: industry at large moving forward? Knowing that these athletes, it
Speaker 1: seems their sensitivity level has heightened enormously, probably because of
Speaker 1: the advent of social.
Speaker 2: Media and yes, is coming from everywhere.
Speaker 1: How concerned are you about that having dare I say,
Speaker 1: a negative effect on sports moving forward?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: So, I think the biggest thing that happened, stephen A,
Speaker 4: is that athletes will try to lessen the authenticity and
Speaker 4: honesty of our voices. Right if you listen to the
Speaker 4: way Aaron Rodgers attacked me in his second appearance on
Speaker 4: Pat McAfee. He didn't attack my words, he didn't try
Speaker 4: to attack any facts. What he tried to do was
Speaker 4: win the emotional battle. He tried to discredit me by
Speaker 4: saying there's no way that he's being honest about me
Speaker 4: because he disagrees with my vaccination.
Speaker 3: Status, which I don't. I don't really care. It's your decision,
Speaker 3: it's your body.
Speaker 4: But instead of saying, hey, Ryan Clark is wrong about
Speaker 4: me being hypocritical because of X Y and z Ryan
Speaker 4: Clark is wrong to call me arrogant because of x
Speaker 4: Y and Z. Ryan Clark is wrong to call me
Speaker 4: a fraud because.
Speaker 3: Of x Y and Z.
Speaker 4: See, that is what athletes will do now, they won't
Speaker 4: have to combat you with facts because, in truth, stephen A,
Speaker 4: outside of people like you, maybe you know Shay Sharp,
Speaker 4: the current athlete is more popular than I am.
Speaker 3: The current athlete is.
Speaker 4: More popular than swagou is, than Dana alovski is and
Speaker 4: those sorts of former athletes. So I don't really have
Speaker 4: to be truthful. I don't have to be factual. I
Speaker 4: can use the emotion of the fan base I've built
Speaker 4: based off of the skill in my sport. And I
Speaker 4: felt like that's what Aaron Rodgers was trying to do.
Speaker 4: But I'm not scared about what this means for media
Speaker 4: because we all have to adapt, right, we all have
Speaker 4: to adjust.
Speaker 3: I mean, look at yourself. You're the biggest name in
Speaker 3: sports media, in linear.
Speaker 4: TV, and you're now creating this platform for yourself that's amazing,
Speaker 4: created by you, controlled by you, because you do understand
Speaker 4: the media landscapes and the way that it's changing.
Speaker 3: And I think that's what we all have to do.
Speaker 3: We all have to be able to evolve.
Speaker 4: But I think even if you look at my four
Speaker 4: minute response that I posted on social it gives me
Speaker 4: an opportunity to take control of the narrative of self,
Speaker 4: the narrative that's being painted of me.
Speaker 3: And you know, I appreciate those opportunities as well.
Speaker 1: How mindful and cognizant or should I say, how much
Speaker 1: does it really affect you and how you go about
Speaker 1: the business of doing your job on an everyday basis,
Speaker 1: considering the growth and the maturation that has taking place
Speaker 1: in you when you look at the pivot, you look
Speaker 1: at ESPN. Listen, we have a voice. We always call
Speaker 1: our c we always call. We want to hear what
Speaker 1: you have to say. We want the audience to hear
Speaker 1: what you have to say. You've been on me, You've
Speaker 1: been on TV with me on several occasions, and there's
Speaker 1: times that I could say something, I'm going like this, Now,
Speaker 1: let him say it that, let him let him speak
Speaker 1: on this. He's more qualified, because it's important that your
Speaker 1: voice is heard. How mindful are you of that now
Speaker 1: at this point in time in your career on a
Speaker 1: personal level, then you were, say five years ago, ten
Speaker 1: years ago.
Speaker 4: I'm very mindful of it, to be honest, Stevine A like,
Speaker 4: I think about you often, you know, and I get
Speaker 4: to talk about you a lot because everybody that's the
Speaker 4: first thing I'm always asked, and always.
Speaker 3: Like, man, how you how you deal with.
Speaker 4: That dude, and always tell him Nobody in that building
Speaker 4: has stood up for me the way that you have.
Speaker 4: Nobody in that building has advised me in that way
Speaker 4: I said. He's taught me so much, whether it's by
Speaker 4: actual advice or being able to watch. And I think
Speaker 4: the thing that I've learned stephen A, is like, these
Speaker 4: are the things we ask for by working hard, right.
Speaker 3: You want your voice to matter right. And what I've learned.
Speaker 4: Is the other side right, the people that push against
Speaker 4: the things that we say. A lot of times, they
Speaker 4: show me that I'm on the right path. They show
Speaker 4: me that I'm where I want to be. And I
Speaker 4: do get what I represent. I represent the next former
Speaker 4: player who wants to be Ryan Clark, the next former
Speaker 4: player who wants to have the platform that I do.
Speaker 3: And so that's important to me that I represent that
Speaker 3: in the right way. But it's also important.
Speaker 4: To me that I stay authentic It's also important to
Speaker 4: me that I remain myself, and I think that was
Speaker 4: a big part of my second response to Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3: And I can tell you this and share it with you.
Speaker 4: I had actually done something the day before afterwards, and
Speaker 4: it was before Pat and I text message, and part
Speaker 4: of it involved Pat, not in like a disrespectful way
Speaker 4: in any way, because I have no issues with him,
Speaker 4: but it talked about his show, the platform and you know,
Speaker 4: him giving Aaron Rodgers the space to say those things.
Speaker 4: And I didn't post that because I was like, nah,
Speaker 4: as a man if and I have no issues. If
Speaker 4: Pat and I have had these conversations, he doesn't need
Speaker 4: to be involved in any way in this response. So
Speaker 4: it can be skewed that we have a problem because
Speaker 4: I recognize the power of my voice and the way
Speaker 4: that people will try to attack and critique and pick
Speaker 4: apart everything I do, and so I took you know,
Speaker 4: I made sure to be smart about that. Also in
Speaker 4: my response to Aaron Rodgers. I made sure my tone
Speaker 4: was a professional tone. I made sure my words were
Speaker 4: fact factual. I made sure I didn't insult him. I
Speaker 4: thought about the first response on first take, and I said, well,
Speaker 4: I feel like a lot of these things were taken
Speaker 4: this way because of my wording right fraud eric it.
Speaker 3: Let me be extremely careful.
Speaker 4: In how I do that and make sure that my
Speaker 4: words are as poignant as possible, because I understand the
Speaker 4: voice and like I worked for this, I earned this,
Speaker 4: and I want to protect it as well.
Speaker 1: How much does your son, being a college player at
Speaker 1: Notre Dame right now about to play the night by
Speaker 1: the way I guess at Theiana win this game.
Speaker 2: How much does your son, knowing.
Speaker 1: He's in the sports world, he's a player, how much
Speaker 1: does that affect how you speak and how you disseminate
Speaker 1: messages to the masses.
Speaker 2: Masses at this point in time.
Speaker 4: Do you know what's funny about it, stephen A, Is
Speaker 4: when I didn't post the thing I recorded that involved Pat,
Speaker 4: I was actually done right. I was like, Man, I'm
Speaker 4: not gonna say nothing. I'm gonna let it go. I
Speaker 4: couldn't go to sleep, stephen A, because I felt tried,
Speaker 4: like I felt like he tried to play me, and
Speaker 4: like I had no resolve, like I didn't speak for myself.
Speaker 4: And I think that matters to me more when it
Speaker 4: pertains to my son than what I say in the
Speaker 4: media as it pertains to analyze in football. I want
Speaker 4: him to know that we always have to worry about
Speaker 4: the self respect. We always have to worry about the
Speaker 4: last name. We always have to be concerned with the authenticity.
Speaker 4: We always have to know that when we look at
Speaker 4: ourselves in the mirror, we were true to who God
Speaker 4: made us to be. And I think that that's the
Speaker 4: most important thing for me and as far as him.
Speaker 4: He has a podcast here called The Irish Scoop. And
Speaker 4: I was walking down the hall last night and this
Speaker 4: lady stopped me and she goes a white woman actually,
Speaker 4: and she says, I love everything you do on TV,
Speaker 4: and I one hundred percent agree with you on what
Speaker 4: you said to Aaron Rodgers. And then the last thing
Speaker 4: she told me was and I love your son's podcast,
Speaker 4: you know, and like for me, man, that meant the
Speaker 4: world to me, because you know, I've worked hard in
Speaker 4: both careers and for him to be doing both of
Speaker 4: the things that I've been able to feed my family
Speaker 4: with and to be doing them at a high level
Speaker 4: and to have people.
Speaker 3: Take recognition of that really is a blessing for it.
Speaker 1: You know, Listen, man, I mean I wanted to bring
Speaker 1: you on the show because you're my brother. I love you,
Speaker 1: and I know I will vouch for your integrity all day,
Speaker 1: any day, any time of the week. And I knew
Speaker 1: that you came across professionally and what have you.
Speaker 2: But you had to claim that because I know how
Speaker 2: you roll. You ain't backing up for you nobody. I
Speaker 2: know You've been there. I know this.
Speaker 1: I know this all right. But listen, man, before I
Speaker 1: let you get on out of here. Since I got
Speaker 1: you here, man, I need your help. I was gonna
Speaker 1: do these quick takes by myself. I got a couple
Speaker 1: of NFL games to get to you, and I got
Speaker 1: a couple of college football games to get you. Oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, I don't know if you know this.
Speaker 1: You know I'm going to steal his Ravens game tomorrow.
Speaker 1: You know I've been I've been invited. What side you're
Speaker 1: sitting on, No, no, no, I've been invited as.
Speaker 2: A guest of the governor. What's more, I'm a personal
Speaker 2: guest to go.
Speaker 1: So we rolled respect that we rolled into the game together.
Speaker 1: You know, you know me, I'm going I'm not trying
Speaker 1: to sit in on stands. I'm not trying to sit on.
Speaker 3: You said your owner's box at the Chargers games.
Speaker 2: This is true, and I'm not apologizing for it.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna try to get as many of those
Speaker 1: seasons I possibly can'tnot see. But let me ask you this,
Speaker 1: I mean, are you gonna be a Benedict Arno or
Speaker 1: remember you a Pittsburgh Steeler? That's where the Super Bowl was?
Speaker 1: The Stealers the Ravens Saturday. Lamar Jackson can't beat the Steelers,
Speaker 1: lost eight of the NAT nine last meetings against the
Speaker 1: Stealers and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: What's gonna happen? Who's winning?
Speaker 3: You know what? I think the Ravens get this one.
Speaker 4: When I look at the way this team is played
Speaker 4: down the stretch, they kind of short up some of
Speaker 4: the things in the secondary.
Speaker 3: But what scares me.
Speaker 4: Is no George Pickens. You know, look at this. Look
Speaker 4: at this offense the last two weeks without him, no
Speaker 4: explosive plays. Can't back defenders off of the offense. And
Speaker 4: the other piece of it was when you go back
Speaker 4: to the first game, Lamar Jackson had some opportunities to
Speaker 4: use his legs and he didn't, And he said his
Speaker 4: mom told him he had to stop that. And that
Speaker 4: makes me scary because the called quarterback run worked when
Speaker 4: you used against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And we all know
Speaker 4: how electrifying Lamar could be when he gets outside the pocket,
Speaker 4: and if he utilizes those things, it could be trouble.
Speaker 2: Kan's City Chiefs, Texans.
Speaker 3: I got the I got the Chiefs even with Patrick
Speaker 3: Mahons hobbled man. Patrick Mahons won a Super Bowl hobbled
Speaker 3: steven A.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, and I will I will say this,
Speaker 1: the Texans have a chance.
Speaker 4: They could turn the football over. What scares me is
Speaker 4: there a protection of CJ.
Speaker 3: Stroud.
Speaker 4: This offensive line just hasn't been good this year. I
Speaker 4: think that's a big piece of why his numbers are down.
Speaker 4: He started to rush a little bit, not the sort
Speaker 4: of poise we saw from him last season. Even in
Speaker 4: the win last week, they weren't explosive in the past game.
Speaker 3: So I believe the Kansas City Chiefs doing.
Speaker 1: Uh, let's go to college football. Man, we're talking about
Speaker 1: Indiana and not the Dame to night. I mean, I
Speaker 1: know you gonna pick Notre Dame. That's just son.
Speaker 2: But the inclement, whether the snow.
Speaker 1: And all of that stuff you don't expect that to have.
Speaker 2: A negative effect in any way.
Speaker 4: No, I mean both of these teams can run the football.
Speaker 4: Indiana is so precise with what they do with signetti
Speaker 4: and the way that they use their quarterback offensively such
Speaker 4: a system quarterback knows exactly where to go with it.
Speaker 4: But we can run the football. Jeremiah Love and you'll
Speaker 4: see it tonight.
Speaker 3: Steven A.
Speaker 4: I think he should be an early Heisman favorite next year.
Speaker 4: He's just a dude, explosive to score.
Speaker 3: In every game this season.
Speaker 4: Riley Leonard has continued to improve since that NIU game.
Speaker 3: I think this game is close.
Speaker 4: I believe it's low scoring, but I expect the defense
Speaker 4: to make enough plays. Look for zero Xavier, watch the
Speaker 4: best safety of football to come up with the turnover.
Speaker 4: And I think this is a game. And we move
Speaker 4: on to the Sugar Bowl January first against Georgia.
Speaker 2: How much how.
Speaker 1: Much, I mean, how much do you work with your
Speaker 1: son and how and how tricky does that get? Because sometimes,
Speaker 1: I mean you might in other words, for us that
Speaker 1: the average person out here doesn't play. You'll look at
Speaker 1: You'll imagine a player are playing for a particular coach
Speaker 1: and the coach telling the parents to stay away. Still
Speaker 1: on the side, let me do this, But you can't
Speaker 1: say that to when the dad's the god's father is
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl champion.
Speaker 2: Okay, that was in a secondary for crime out loud.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So I've trained him stephen A since he was in
Speaker 4: eighth grade. We were driving to school and he looks
Speaker 4: at me. He goes, Dad, I want to play college ball,
Speaker 4: and he's like, I want to play receiver. I was like, well, Pops,
Speaker 4: can't really help you with that, Like I think you
Speaker 4: should play receiver in high school too, but let's train DV.
Speaker 3: And so I've been doing it his entire career.
Speaker 4: I'm the only DV trainer he's ever had outside of
Speaker 4: his coaches. I remember with grade every play from high
Speaker 4: school football and give him his grade.
Speaker 3: We go through the tape. But now that he's in college,
Speaker 3: I backed off. I'm not one of those dads that's
Speaker 3: on the sidelines.
Speaker 4: I don't go to practice when parents aren't invited. I
Speaker 4: don't stick my head into meetings like I don't do
Speaker 4: that obviously. Coach Free and I have a good relationship,
Speaker 4: like I text him each week and we talk about
Speaker 4: just mindset of football, but we don't talk about Jordan.
Speaker 3: Jordan has to control his own career.
Speaker 1: Last question for you, Tennessee number nine at Ohio State.
Speaker 2: I have been of this mindset. I'm not in the.
Speaker 1: Caller for people to get fired. I'm very selective with that. Okay,
Speaker 1: you gotta really be bad. Ryan Day is not bad.
Speaker 1: Sixty six to ten.
Speaker 2: Career record for crying out loud.
Speaker 1: But he's lost four straight years to Michigan at the
Speaker 1: Ohio State.
Speaker 2: And if he's not a part of the national championship.
Speaker 1: Picture after having a twenty million dollar roster courtesy of
Speaker 1: nil in the transfer potal, combined with the fact that
Speaker 1: you had eleven players that were considered an NFL caliber.
Speaker 6: That returned to your guard this year, if you can't,
Speaker 6: if you lose tomorrow night on ABC after losing the
Speaker 6: Michigan for a fourth straight time, Ryan Clark, I don't
Speaker 6: know how he could keep his job to that.
Speaker 3: You say, what, Yeah, I don't believe he can. Steven A.
Speaker 4: I think one, Ohio State's tired of losing to Michigan.
Speaker 3: Two. When you have the best roster money can buy,
Speaker 3: you have to produce. Tennessee is a good.
Speaker 4: Team or sec team only two losses this year, but
Speaker 4: Ryan Day and Ohio State Buck guys should win this game,
Speaker 4: especially playing at home. I think if he does not
Speaker 4: only win this game, but end up being in the
Speaker 4: final four of the college football playoff picture, I think
Speaker 4: Ryan Day will lose his job and there will be
Speaker 4: another head coach at Ohio State University.
Speaker 1: Ryan Clark, Man, appreciate your time wishing your son Jordan
Speaker 1: good luck tonight against Indiana.
Speaker 2: Know to Day, Thank you Indian.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you taking time out of your business schedule to
Speaker 1: come on and talk.
Speaker 2: To me and rap to me. Man, really appreciate all
Speaker 2: the best to you.
Speaker 1: I'll see you so my may I love all right
Speaker 1: and only Ryan Clark right here on the Stephen A.
Speaker 2: Smith Show.
Speaker 1: You heard what he had to say, you can respond accordingly.