Ryan Clark Takes Offense with Robert Griffin III Making Angel Reese the Villain of Caitlin Clark’s “Hero Origin Story”

Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III found themselves on opposite ends in the feud between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

Ryan Clark Takes Offense with Robert Griffin III Making Angel Reese the Villain of Caitlin Clark’s “Hero Origin Story”

Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III (Image via IMAGO)

The writing was kind of on the wall. From the moment Robert Griffin III sided with Caitlin Clark over Angel Reese in their latest feud, some were bound to be angry. One of them turned out to be Ryan Clark.

Clark claimed RG3 sounded irresponsible for calling out Reese. In a special edition of the Pivot podcast, the ESPN contributor asserted that even though Griffin is Black, he belittled a successful Black woman.

The former NFL safety argued that Clark is the ‘biggest star’ in women’s basketball, but RG3 didn’t have to bring Reese down to make the Indiana Fever the only legitimate star of the WNBA.

[Robert Griffin III] plays into the narrative that [Angel] Reese is the villain of [Caitlin] Clark’s hero origin story. Now, Oberman & Portnoy, who berated Reese in college, have an ally in Griffin. Add him to the list of Black men who’ve adopted the corny trend of denigrating Black women to affirm their choices.

Ryan Clark said via X

Ryan Clark feels Robert Griffin III’s judgment is compromised

If it wasn’t clear enough, Clark didn’t appreciate RG3 painting Reese in a bad light. He then switched to a direct attack mode.

Ryan Clark Takes Offense with Robert Griffin III Making Angel Reese the Villain of Caitlin Clark's Hero Origin Story
Ryan Clark (Image via IMAGO)

Clark pointed out that RG3’s judgment is biased because he is married to a White woman from Eastern Europe. It was peculiar to point out, but Clark didn’t seem to bat an eye and just ran with the angle.

When I worked with RGIII, 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 skin. As if the color of her skin is what makes her special.

Ryan Clark added

So why did Ryan Clark suddenly go after RG3? Following a flagrant foul from Clark on Reese during their WNBA season opener, the Chicago Sky star lashed out at Clark. Reese’s teammates had to restrain her to keep both athletes separated from each other.

RG3 viewed the outburst as hatred toward Clark and tweeted,

After watching Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese and the aftermath, there is no way Angel Reese can continue the lie that she doesn’t dislike Caitlin Clark… Angel Reese HATES Caitlin Clark.

RG3 fired back at Ryan Clark

A reply was on the horizon. It didn’t take long for Griffin to fire back at Clark. The former NFL quarterback clarified that his take on Reese’s hatred for Clark was purely from a sports point of view, rather than racially motivated.

I gave a sports opinion: I said Angel Reese hates Caitlin Clark, based on repeated, visible actions on the court and in press conferences. I backed it up with five separate examples from the game of basketball because that’s what I do. I analyze sports. I stay in the arena. Just because Angel Reese is Black doesn’t mean that her game and actions can not be critiqued.

Robert Griffin III tweeted

Griffin also demanded that Clark keep families out of such conversations.

Disagree with me all you want. Challenge my take. But keep my family and wife out of it. That’s a boundary that should always be respected.

Clark wasn’t the first person to criticize Griffin. Ex-Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant told Griffin to refrain from alienating Reese.  

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