The latest media storm around Ryan Clark took another sharp turn after he shared his views on Cam Newton’s latest interview with Jason Whitlock. Whitlock’s 4th & 1 podcast interview with Newton went viral as he took shots at ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and even accused him of lying about his past. But Clark’s reaction to that conversation led to an even bigger backlash, with an NFL legend bluntly calling him out.

“That dude (Ryan Clark) is a good analyst, I ain’t gonna lie,” former defensive end Marcellus Wiley said. “He kills it. But I put all that to the side, but this is what I can’t get over. This is what triggers me. He’s a race-baiter. But worse than a race baiter is the type that we all grew up with that turned into that guy. Usually that guy got an identity issue.”

Moreover, Wiley pushed his criticism further by pointing to what he sees as contradictions in Clark’s public stance.

“But Ryan Clark wants to be a race baiter when he got a white baby momma, a black and white kid and then want to look at everything through an all-black lens. That’s when I was like, this is just damaging to them. This is just stupid.”

Since 2004, the former voice of the Steelers has been married to his high school sweetheart, Yonka Clark. They have three kids together, including Jaden, their oldest daughter, who is biracial.

A similar criticism came up last year when he questioned Robert Griffin III’s Angel Reese take, and social media quickly turned the conversation to his own family. In response, Clark addressed the noise directly online, choosing to center the conversation around his daughter.

“I didn’t know this was news, but since other people want to talk about her. This is my first, Jaden,” he wrote. “My God, she’s beautiful. All of her! I fell in love with her the first time I ever saw her, & I’ve loved her every day since.”

“Maybe, the news in light of this week is that she’s biracial. So? She is a perfect part of my God-given experience, & the sum of those experiences makes me who I am!”

To understand the whole controversy, let’s go back to what Ryan Clark originally said about Cam Newton after he invited Jason Whitlock on his podcast.

“If someone shows you love, has you on ‘their’ show twice a week… at least. You don’t bring his known enemy on your show and allow your guest to talk 💩 about person. That’s not G at all. Loyalty is at a minimum these days.”

While Clark didn’t name-drop Newton, his comments pointed to Cam giving Jason Whitlock a platform to attack a colleague.

Following the podcast, Smith also didn’t keep quiet and set the record straight, while asking Newton not to just sit there and let people talk sh—t.

“Cam Newton, next time, my brother, cause you know I love you, you gonna interview somebody and bring me up? Don’t just sit there and let them talk sh*t. Ask questions,”

Further, he also addressed Whitlock’s remarks about him and questioned, “how would he know?”

“Let them prove it. I’m a fraud? How? What facts do you have? I’m sitting there doing an interview with Graham Bensinger the other day, and I talked about how growing up as a teenager, I saw a few people get murdered… I’m lying about that, according to Jason Whitlock, like he was in Hollis, Queens, New York, 40-plus years ago.”

Even then, Marcellus Wiley didn’t just stop there and criticized Ryan Clark for following others.

Marcellus Wiley calls Ryan Clark a full-blown mess

During his appearance on Whitlock’s Fearless show on Friday, Wiley called Clark a full-blown mess, pointing out that there was no need for his tweet to Stephen A. Smith.

“Stephen A Smith gave Jason Whitlock 35 minutes in retort,” Wiley said. “I think that’s enough. We don’t need your tweet on top of that to say, ‘Pom poms. Yes. Stephen A. [Smith]. You see, I got your back, big dog.’ As a man, for what? Stephen A. [Smith] got this, whether he wins or loses, he got this.”

Wiley further highlighted that the dispute was always between Cam Newton, Jason Whitlock, and Stephen A. Smith and didn’t require Clark’s outside commentary.

“He is a full-blown mess. Seriously, like he’s a problem. I told him back then, when he first started coming at me. He is truly a group thinker. He’s truly led by the pack,” Wiley said. “He let Stephen A Smith lead him into this, and he ain’t got nothing to do with this.”

“This was a Cam Newton, Jason Whitlock beef, part one,” Wiley said. “Part two… Jason Whitlock and Stephen A Smith… where’s Ryan Clark in this? He has no business being in this except the business of following the pack and trying to get a reaction.”

Per Willey, independent media figures should never adopt an identity that doesn’t align with who they are and highlights a much broader distinction between traditional sports media voices and independently run platforms.