Ryan Clark makes final statement on heated Josh Allen-Lamar Jackson debate with ex-Bills player Marcellus Riley escalates

Ryan Clark has had enough. In recent days, Clark was caught in a social media feud with fellow retired NFL player Marcellus Riley. Riley accused Ryan Clark of race-baiting in the Josh Allen-Lamar Jackson debate, which led to a back-and-forth. If you missed it, you can catch up on the exchange here.

The ESPN analyst decided to put an end to this saga and posted a 10-minute video explaining his side of the story. He acknowledged the recent incident had taken a mental toll on him:

“I can’t lie man. Having all of these spaces saying I was a racist was tough on me.”

The genesis for the recent social media spat was Clark’s perceived favoritism for Lamar Jackson over Josh Allen for MVP. He explained his stance in the video.

“I got to be racist because I think Lamar who had a historic year is MVP and Josh who had an amazing year and brought this team up is second? I think they’re both great. I want them to both win.

“People want to believe in this perception so that they don’t have to talk, so they don’t have to understand so they don’t have to communicate. Instead of finding perspective because in perspective we have conversations.”

He also brought up his disagreement with Wiley which stems from political differences and disagreements on racial discourse:

“So many times I get DMs from why Trump is the greatest, I get DMs calling me the N-word, DMs calling me a racist POS. And in most of those things, they always ask me why can’t you be a black man like Marcellus Wiley. Who for so long I’ve ignored. But I said, oh, that’s who they think represents us. We should have a conversation. I should stand on business and stand on business with him.”

However, he blames himself for attempting to reach out to Wiley:

“I reached out and I was stupid. I know who he is. I’ve reached out to talk face-to-face and he wouldn’t do it.”

He also mentioned an event where the pair eventually did speak.

“He turns around with the same smile and said, ‘Hey what’s up bro.'" Clark claimed he replied, “'Bro, you know I don’t f*** with you. You know we don’t get down we ain’t cool.' He doesn’t do anything.”

Ryan Clark is ready to let it go and 'be above it'

The former Steelers cornerback then ended the segment with his decision to move on.

“I got to let them hate, I got to lie them lie, and I got to let myself be above it.”

The feud appears to have stemmed from differing views on race and politics in the USA. Ryan Clark also mentioned speaking to political podcaster Michele Tafoya and Outkick’s Bobby Burack, both of whom have more conservative political backgrounds than Clark in their political views. Burack shared they both gained some mutual respect after the conversation.

Ryan Clark was previously caught in a lawsuit by former ESPN anchor Sage Steele against the company. In the lawsuit filed in 2022, she alleged that Clark refused to work with her for her political views.