Ryan Clark was on ESPN’s NFL Live broadcast on Monday when it started.
The former Pittsburgh Steelers safety wasn’t there when it finished.
ESPN had informed Clark midway through the show that he was being let go, according to The Athletic.
They had a reason for the mid-show news, but it still must’ve been quite a difficult way for Clark to hear about it.
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Why did ESPN let Ryan Clark go in the middle of NFL Live?
According to the aforementioned report from The Athletic, ESPN had started to get inquiries about Clark’s job.
They had planned to inform him Tuesday morning that he was being let go, but they didn’t want him to hear from elsewhere.
“Sources at ESPN say the reason they told Clark during the show was due to media inquiries into his departure and a fear that the news would leak out before they could inform him,” The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand writes. “Since after the Super Bowl in February, sources had told The Athletic that Clark’s job could be in jeopardy. Last week, The Athletic learned that Clark was likely to be let go. ESPN’s plan was to do that on Tuesday morning, but after receiving calls on the matter chose to inform him during his show as they did not want him to read online before being told in person.”
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Clark isn’t expected to be the last cut, either.
ESPN and NFL Network are “expected to have more layoffs Tuesday,” according to The Athletic.
It’s unlikely that any of them will find out in the middle of a show they’re working on.