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Ryan Clark is facing backlash for calling Lamar Jackson the “first authentic Black quarterback”. Understandably, his comments have not gone over well. The quarterback has been a historically white position, with Black athletes struggling to find starting jobs at the position in the NFL. Furthermore, Clark’s comment erases a history that dates all the way back to the 1920s.

Fans have gone after Clark online, calling him inflammatory, ignorant, and hateful. A number of people have called for his removal from ESPN. However, Clark is yet to issue any sort of follow-up or apology for his comments.

However, it’s not the time Clark has been criticized for his comments. Tua Tagovailoa went after Clark last summer when Clark stated that he didn’t think Tua was taking his offseason workouts seriously enough. “I think we all worked hard throughout the offseason. I am not someone to talk about myself the entire time…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 know about, that people don’t understand that go behind the scenes. You know, I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out of your mouth, that’s what I would say,” Tua said when asked about Clark’s comments during media availability.

It’s a more than fair answer from Tua. As reported by Miami’s Palm Beach Post, the Dolphins are very happy about where Tua is at heading into the season. “You have to give credit to Tua for all of the stuff that he’s done in the offseason to prepare himself,” QB coach Darrell Bevell said. “I expect him to have a great year. You know, I thought he was on track to do that last year. And we’ve talked a lot about obviously being on the field for all the games and I think he’s really taken that to heart and done the things that he needs to to at least put him in a position to be able to do that.”

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