Ryan Clark Calls out Media About Monday Night Post Game Incident
After Monday Night Football this past week, receiver Pierre Garcon and left tackle Trent Williams exchanged banter during DeSean Jackson’s postgame interview after the game. They were cutting up, “yelling and laughing”.
The situation got some attention from the media who in turn asked Redskins head coach Jay Gruden about it later. Gruden’s response was short and to the point when first asked, “It wasn’t acceptable”, after Gruden had time to investigate he called the situation “over-blown” stating that the players involved had each played hard that night and things got blown out of proportion.
On Wednesday, safety Ryan Clark revisited the subject.
“It’s about going out there and making plays,” Clark said. “It’s on us to find a way to do enough of those things that help you win games. We haven’t done those. And, it’s about the work, it’s about the preparation. So, for me, I’m not necessarily frustrated with the situation as I am the way we’ve approached getting out of the situation.”
In response to questions about an increased sense of urgency since the team is 1-4, Clark went further.
“There’s always a sense of urgency. I guess it would be cool for me to be like, we’ve lost such and such games in a row, we’re 1-4, the sense of urgency is heightened, but that’s dumb. If you don’t go out every week willing to give a hundred percent of your mind and body to win football games, if it takes losses to make you feel that way, you’re a loser before you got out there.”
As Clark, who works for ESPN in the off-season, went further in into the conversation, he made it be known that he believes reporters have no clue what players are supposed to feel like after a loss.
“There’s been a big deal made in the media about people behaving a certain way after a loss. As a media guy, I ask y’all a question. How do you handle losing in the NFL? I’m just waiting for the first person that lost one. Oh, that’s just me, right? That’s my point. Y’all have no idea how somebody is supposed to behave after a loss.
“Y’all have no idea if they can laugh, if that’s the right way to handle it. Y’all have no idea if I get pissed off and don’t want to talk to y’all, if that’s the right way to handle it. Does that show I’m upset about a loss? If when you guys come to talk to me, I don’t want to give you a quote. Well, then you say, man, that Ryan Clark, he really cares. He lost a game and refused to talk to us. No, then, you would write that I’m a sore loser. You would write that after wins, Ryan Clark is willing to talk to the media, but today he didn’t.
“But you’re saying because a certain group of people behaved a certain way, they don’t care. But, you don’t know that, because you haven’t been in that position. None of you guys know that. Now, what you do after you lose a game that says whether or not you’re a professional, what says whether or not you care, is the way you come to work the next week. This morning, I walked in the building at 6 o’clock, because I care. I sat in the meeting room by myself, because I care. That’s what y’all don’t see.
“You’d rather write about somebody’s laughing or somebody’s joking, doesn’t matter. Whether they laugh or joke or pissed off or throw a helmet, is not going to change what happened those 60 minutes on the grass. But it’s about how you prepare on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday for the next Sunday game. That’s the mark of a man, mark of an athlete, the mark of a player. And, that’s what I’m looking for.”
Clark made a series of points here, but following those statements, a writer for the other paper in Washington decided to take it open himself to become the news via Twitter, instead of just reporting it.
Below is the Twitter exchange between Clark and the reporter.
