Ryan Clark Owes RGIII An Apology For His Comments About Griffin's Relationship With Black Women

Over the weekend, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III stated the obvious: Angel Reese "hates" Caitlin Clark. 

His post was hardly controversial. For over two years, Reese has demonstrated a disdain toward Clark on and off the court. On Saturday, Reese had to be held back after Clark fouled her.

ESPN analyst Ryan Clark was one of the many commentators who criticized Griffin for his post. In a video Monday, Ryan Clark implied that Griffin's marriage to a white woman impeded his view of black women in America.

"When RG3 jumps onto the hate train or the angry train, it now follows what we saw from Keith Olbermann, what we saw from Dave Portnoy, as they poured onto Angel Reese to make her the villain, and Caitlin Clark heroic or hero story," Ryan Clark on his podcast, "The Pivot."

 "The one thing we know about RG3 is he’s not having conversations at his home about what Black women have to endure in this country. About what young Black women and athletes like Angel Reese have had to deal with being on the opposite side of Caitlin Clark’s rise and ascension into stardom."

Monday afternoon, Griffin responded to Ryan Clark in a video and a lengthy social media post.  Here is part of that response:

"Ryan Clark said I don’t understand the struggles of Black women because I’m married to a white woman. That’s wrong and way out of bounds. He suggested I don’t value my wife as the woman I love, protect and raise a family with but only value her because of the color of her skin. That’s wrong and way out of bounds. 

"He implied that he, a man who has never sat at our dinner table, values my wife and knows my marriage better than I do. That’s wrong and way out of bounds. He dismissed my Blackness because I have a different opinion about Angel Reese than he does. That’s wrong and way out of bounds. 

He claimed that I’m not having conversations about the struggles of Black women in my own home because my wife is white. That’s wrong and way out of bounds. We also raise Black daughters together and don’t teach them to hate people or disqualify their opinions based on the color of their skin."

You can read the full post below:

OutKick has been critical of both Griffin and Clark.  Personally, I've been more critical of Griffin. I maintain that using ESPN's prestigious Monday Night Football platform to defend Lamar Jackson, whom he called his "little brother," against strawmen was a conflict of interest and undermined the credibility of the platform.

As Ryan Clark previously mentioned on social media, he and I had a private and productive back-and-forth discussion earlier this year. So, I'm hardly coming to Griffin's defense to preserve any personal friendship.

That said, Griffin's points are hard to dispute. 

"Just because Angel Reese is Black doesn’t mean that her game and actions can not be critiqued," he says. "A Black man or woman is not restricted from giving a sports opinion on another Black man or woman just because you don’t like it. Everyone can give their opinion on everyone no matter what color they are."

He's right. There are commentators who shield black women from any degree of criticism. To name names: Monica McNutt, Elle Duncan, Chiney Ogwumike and Jemele Hill. And there is a heightened level of sensitivity when a black man criticizes a black woman. Put simply, this group doesn't think black women should be covered fairly. They demand that black women be covered more softly.

However, Griffin said nothing wrong. Cailtin Clark vs. Angel Reese is a one-sided feud, initiated by the latter two years ago when she taunted Caitlin Clark with her signature "you can't see me" gesture on the court.

Reese convinced herself that the pushback she faces for taunting Caitlin Clark must have been racially motivated. It wasn't. Imagine a golfer using Tiger Woods' signature fist pump in his face during the heat of competition…

As for Saturday, Caitlin Clark, at worst, hard-fouled Reese (like Reese did to her many times last season) and most likely committed a basketball move. 

Either way, there was no reason for Reese to act the way she acted after Caitlin Clark followed her – unless, as Griffin states, she has deep hatred for the person fouling her. 

Reese's unnecessarily dramatic reaction made the foul a national news story, not the foul itself.

Watch the play again, below:

But let's say you disagree with Griffin and don't believe Reese "hates" Caitlin Clark. You might look like a fool for arguing that—and would probably need to ignore the countless examples proving otherwise—but that's fine.

Right or wrong, Griffin's comments are quite insignificant. At no point should his sports takes turn into a discussion about the race of his wife.

This is not the first time Griffin has faced criticism for marrying or dating a white woman. In 2012, then-ESPN fill-in host Rob Parker questioned Griffin's blackness by calling him a "cornball brother." Griffin says Parker's comments were in reference to him having a white fiancée.

Unfortunately, it's quite common for black public figures to face scrutiny from other black people for marrying a white man or woman. This happened to Justin Clarence Thomas, Candace Owens, Sage Steele and Malika Andrews as well.

Shaming a black person for marrying a white spouse is wrong and, by definition, racist. Thus, Clark was wrong to mention Griffin's wife, regardless of how he feels about Griffin.

Moreover, Griffin's mother is black. He has four black daughters. He has three black sisters. Ryan Clark nor anyone else should be in a position to suggest Griffin is dismissive of black women, or to pretend to know what types of conversations he has with his mother, sisters, and young daughters.

Ryan Clark owes him an apology for that.