Ryan Clark Calls Out Cam Newton Over His Constant Notre Dame Criticism on 'First Take'

Ryan Clark has had enough of Cam Newton's criticism of Notre Dame's football program.

Clark, the former NFL safety and current ESPN football analyst, defended Notre Dame's football program after Newton said that the Irish should join a conference in football and that the program "didn't belong" in the College Football Playoff. Clark's son, Jordan, is a member of Notre Dame's starting secondary.

"What I love about sports media, and what I love about humans is, you know what's hard for us to do? And anybody that has ever been in a relationship know this—it's hard to say, 'Baby, I was wrong.' And that's what Cam Newton can't do," Clark said.

"I get it, it's hard to say, 'Oh wait, they went out and played Georgia, a team that during the week, you knew Gunner Stockton was going to be the quarterback, and they went out and beat them. Not only did they beat them, they beat them by two scores, and they beat them physically up front on both sides of the ball. And they beat them mentally because Marcus Freeman out-coached the gold standard for coaching now that Nick Saban has retired in Kirby Smart. But it’s hard to say after the game, ‘You know what, this Notre Dame team is different, just like RC said.’"

I will forever love and respect Ryan Clark for how much he’s gone to bat for Notre Dame this season. Here he is again, destroying Cam Newton on First Take this morning. #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/6iRKMYxGEk
— The Irish Network (@IrishNet) January 10, 2025

But Clark wasn't done. He had plenty to say about Notre Dame's Orange Bowl performance as well to Newton.

"And then you go and play Penn State, who, by the way, plays in a conference. Who, by the way, played in a conference championship. Which makes this the second team that Notre Dame has played in a row that was in a conference championship and they beat them too. ... At some point, we’ve got to just say, these dudes can play and their coach is an absolute star.”

Notre Dame is for real, and is now one game away from capturing the school's first national championship since the 1988 season under Lou Holtz. It's been a while since the Irish have experienced this kind of postseason success, and the program is looking to win one more game to accomplish their lofty goal.