# Ryan Clark on getting fired from ESPN mid-show

> The former NFL analyst reveals how his public layoff pushed him to launch his own sports show.
- Title: Ryan Clark on getting fired from ESPN mid-show · Newsweek
- Summary: The former NFL analyst reveals how his public layoff pushed him to launch his own sports show. Sometimes losing your job unlocks the courage to take risks…
- Keywords: ryan clark, espn, nfl live, the pivot sports, layoffs, channing crowder, fred taylor, sports media, nfl analysts, career change, Ryan, Clark
- Source: Newsweek — https://newsweek.com/sports/nfl/ryan-clark-reveals-the-demoralizing-toll-espn-layoff-had-on-him-12447732
- Author: Cameron Kiszla
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ryan clark, espn, nfl live, the pivot sports, layoffs, channing crowder, fred taylor, sports media, nfl analysts, career change
## Fired during a commercial break
Ryan Clark learned he was being let go from ESPN during a break on NFL Live. He never returned to the set after getting the news.
## The layoff unlocked his fear
Clark admits he wouldn't have started his own show without being fired. The intimidation and unknowns kept him from taking the leap before.

> Without that layoff at ESPN, I don't believe, to be honest with you, that I ever take this step.
## Not about revenge or regret
His new show, The Pivot Sports, isn't about winning against ESPN. Clark says the tone is triumphant but not about lamenting what he lost.

> It's not even in the sense that I've won, but more that I'm not lamenting what was lost.
## Like hearing your own eulogy
Players, coaches and executives across the NFL reached out after his firing. Clark compared it to hearing people declare their support in real time.
## His real fear now
Clark isn't worried the show won't work. He's afraid he'll hold onto pieces of his ESPN experience and still not feel content even if it succeeds.

> My fear is that I will hold on to pieces of that last experience, both good and bad, and that this works in an amazing way, and I'm still not content.
## Key takeaway

Sometimes losing your job unlocks the courage to take risks you'd never have taken otherwise.