Former NFL safety and Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark joins Kate Abdo, Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies and Mo Edu for a candid conversation about his fraught contract negotiation with ESPN, the intersection of sports and politics, his approach to parenting, and dealing with setbacks in life and in football.   New contract (01:56): The negotiation process, overcoming fear and becoming a better broadcaster, Ryan’s anti-selfie stance. Parenting (06:22): Being a supportive father versus being a competitive former athlete, embracing life as a soccer dad. Code switching (18:01): Staying true to yourself, crossing the political line, how the media covered Colin Kaepernick.  The player (28:24): Toughness, total devotion to football, not wanting to like Tom Brady. Health (35:01): Shining a light on sickle cell disease, preparing for death. Fighting (40:10): Being called out publicly, squashing beefs, love of combat sports. Kickin’ It is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow the Kickin’ It team on Twitter: @CBSSportsGolazo, @kate_abdo, @CharlieDavies9, @MauriceEdu, @clint_dempsey Watch Kickin’ It on the CBS Sports Golazo Network, the 24-hour soccer streaming network that is available for free on connected TV and mobile devices through the CBS Sports App and Pluto TV, and on CBSSports.com, as well as Paramount+. For more soccer coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Watch UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, Serie A, Coppa Italia, CONCACAF Nations League, NWSL, Scottish Premiership, Brasileiro, Argentine Primera División, soccer documentaries and more by subscribing Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com/home/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices