ESPN’s Ryan Clark Apologizes for Joking About Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s Physique
ESPN analyst Ryan Clark on Thursday apologized for making a joke about Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s body.
During Monday’s episode of NFL Live, Clark jokingly accused Tagovailoa of not going to the gym this offseason and claimed he looked “thick.”
“I’m gonna tell you what he wasn’t doing: he wasn’t in the gym, I bet you that,” Clark said to his colleagues. “He might’ve spent a lot of time in the tattoo parlor. He was not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised. He looks happy. He is thick.”
This level of hate from Ryan Clark is unbelievable…
Tua does nothing but keep his head down and work his tail off the ENTIRE off season to get his body right.
How dare @espn for the constant hate y’all don’t even hide it anymore pic.twitter.com/w5I6OwZJH4
— JoeRobbie (@JoeRobbie_) August 22, 2023
The comments sparked outrage among Dolphins fans and also became the topic of discussion when Tagovailoa spoke with the media after practice Wednesday.
“I think we all worked hard throughout the offseason,” he responded. “And I’m not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but it takes a lot. You think I wanted to build all this muscle? To some extent, I wanted to be a little lighter. There’s a mixture of things that people don’t understand — that people don’t know about, that are talked about — that go behind the scenes. I’d appreciate if you kept my name out your mouth. That’s what I’d say.”
#Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa responds to ESPN’s Ryan Clark, who accused him of not working out this offseason:
“I would appreciate it if you kept my name out of your mouth.”
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 23, 2023
In his apology video posted Thursday, Clark maintained that he was only joking and didn’t mean for it to be interpreted as genuine criticism.
“Yesterday, Tua Tagovailoa had to answer questions about something I said on Monday,” he began, “something that I truly just felt like was a joke to me … I’ve realized as the week has gone on if this man has to answer questions about it, if so many Miami Dolphins fans are offended by it, then people ain’t taking it as a joke.
“So let me be very clear: if I’ve offended you, Tua; if I’ve hurt you; if I’ve disrespected you; if anybody that supports and loves you feels some sort of way because of what I said, I truly apologize.”
Clark also said he reached out to Tagovailoa and was looking forward to speaking with him to clear the air.
Watch above via Twitter.
