After Robert Griffin III took a strong stance on the rivalry between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, Ryan Clark took issue with his ex-ESPN colleague’s commentary.
During Monday’s episode of The Pivot, Clark weighed in on Griffin’s take, in which the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner shared his belief that Reese “hates” Clark. And not only did the former Pittsburgh Steelers safety accuse his former Washington Redskins teammate of trafficking in stereotypes, but he even cited Griffin’s multiple marriages to white women as evidence that he doesn’t understand what Black women like Reese have to endure daily.
“When RG3 jumps onto the hate train or the angry train, it now follows what we saw from Keith Olbermann, what we saw from Dave Portnoy, as they poured onto Angel Reese to make her the villain, and Caitlin Clark heroic or hero story,” Clark says in the clip, which he promoted via his personal X account. “The one thing we know about RG3 is he’s not having conversations at his home about what Black women have to endure in this country. About what young Black women and athletes like Angel Reese have had to deal with being on the opposite side of Caitlin Clark’s rise and ascension into stardom.”
Clark’s comment about Griffin’s conversations at home was an apparent reference to the 35-year-old’s marriage to Grete Griffin, an Estonian heptathlete. The 2011 Pro Bowl selection also noted Grete Griffin’s behavior in the background of her husband’s video regarding the rivalry between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark and what he witnessed from the former Baylor star when they worked together at ESPN.
“If you’re RG3, when is the last time within your household you’ve had a conversation about what [Angel Reese is] dealing with?” Clark asked. “You haven’t been able to do that because in both of your marriages, you’ve been married to white women.
“You haven’t had opportunities to have those conversations to educate you on what they’re feeling, what Black women deal with, what they’re seeing when they think of a young Angel Reese. And the whole time that he’s mimicking Angel Reese and bobbing his head and moving his neck while he’s doing this whole piece, his wife is in the back amening and clapping.”
Clark continued: “When I worked with RG3, he would make all of these sort of corny jokes about milk and how much he loved it and how important it was. And he always points out on social media the color of his wife’s white skin. As if the color of her skin is what makes her special. As if the color of her skin is what makes her a good wife.
“I’ve met the lady, I’ve had a conversation with her. I think she’s more than that. But it also leads to what Black women deal with a lot from Black men who have chose to date or marry outside of their race. They always feel like they have to go the extra mile to prop up the woman that they married or the woman that they’re with over Black women by denigrating Black women.”
After encouraging viewers not to pit Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark against each other based on “stereotypical tropes,” Clark ended the clip with a parting shot.
“This is what I’d like RG3 to know: That no matter how much he continues to echo the micro-aggressions of racists, he’ll be no less Black than me,” he said.
The Reese-Clark rivalry was already a sensitive topic before Ryan Clark introduced his thoughts on Griffin’s marriage to the conversation. Given the personal nature of Clark’s critique and his willingness to turn such commentary into content, one would imagine that it’s only a matter of time before RG3 issues a response of his own.