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Stephen A. Smith said his ESPN colleague Ryan Clark “crossed the line” by involving Robert Griffin III’s wife in their public feud, however, he didn’t think it was “a fireable offense.”
What started as Clark and Griffin, a Fox Sports analyst, sharing their takes about the confrontation between WNBA stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark during the Fever-Sky game on Saturday, quickly snowballed into a fiery back-and-forth that spilled into their personal lives.
During Wednesday’s installment of his self-titled YouTube show, Smith explained that he didn’t condone that Clark brought up “both of Griffin’s marriages.”
“I don’t want to hear s–t about Ryan Clark getting fired,” Smith said. “I don’t want to hear that. Ryan Clark is my colleague, he is my friend and brother. He is a good man and he’s a good brother. And there is no way on earth that I would be quiet if he was fired over something like this.
“I’m not saying he’s right, and I’ll get into that in a second. But this is not a fireable offense… I don’t usually talk about ESPN business. And I’m not going to right now. Other than to say, RGIII clearly is not liked by Ryan Clark. What Ryan Clark said — that’s not something he normally does. ‘Corny, phony,’ those are the kinds of things he said specifically about RGIII. That’s what he feels.”
Some called for ESPN to fire Clark over his remarks about race and Griffin’s wife Grete, who is white.
Griffin and Clark, both of whom are black, were NFL teammates with Washington in 2014. Griffin’s ex-wife Rebeca Liddicoat is white.
“I love my man RC,” Smith continued. “I thought he crossed the line when he brought up you, RGIII, being married, not once, but twice to white women. There was no need to go there. But he don’t like your ass. That might have had something to do with it.
“I’m not condoning him doing that. I’m not condoning him bringing that up. If RC and I had spoke about it in-depth, I would have told him, ‘Don’t go there. There’s no need for all of that.'”
Smith was referring to Clark bringing up Griffin’s two marriages “to white women.”
Griffin and Liddicoat divorced in 2016 after being married for three years. The former NFL quarterback and Grete tied the knot in 2018 and have four daughters together.
Smith explained that he disagreed with Griffin’s accusation that Clark launched an attack on his family.
“But I want to emphasize something very important. RGIII, he never attacked your wife. He never attacked your family. He was attacking you, and you know it,” Smith said.
“Now, that don’t make it correct, the mentioning of your wife. I’ll concede that. He didn’t utter a negative syllable about your wife. He never mentioned your children. So when you say (he was) attacking your wife and attacking your family, your children. How did he do that? Ryan Clark did not do that.
“He talked about you and your behavior. He talked about how you lean towards highlighting her ethnicity. I don’t know whether that’s true or not. I pay no attention to that stuff. But I know what he said. And he was saying she was much more than the color of her skin. He did in no way denigrate your wife and he never mentioned your children.”
Griffin and Clark stood by their remarks and things seemingly fizzled out in the public eye, but not until after many scrutinized the pair for making things personal instead of discussing the Fever-Sky game.
English (US)