Ryan Clark has change into probably the most revered, insightful, and headline-inducing members of sports activities media ever since he retired from the NFL, and he definitely made loads of headlines on Thursday morning’s episode of First Take.
Clark touched on a subject he just lately expounded on throughout an episode of his podcast, wherein he defined why Texas quarterback Arch Manning isn’t a generational expertise, nevertheless it’s the growth on that matter that obtained him quite a lot of pushback on-line afterwards.
Clark struck a nerve when he stated Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees weren’t generational skills, a lot to the shock of fellow analyst Dan Orlovsky.
“I believe John Elway was a generational expertise. I believe Patrick Mahomes is a generational expertise. I don’t assume Tom Brady, I don’t assume Drew Brees, I don’t assume Peyton Manning are generational skills. I believe Andrew Luck ended up being a generational expertise. I don’t assume there’s a ton of them on the market,” Clark stated.
“I do not assume Tom Brady, I do not assume Drew Brees, I do not assume Peyton Manning are generational skills.” – Ryan Clark pic.twitter.com/sTgNQXxfBY
— Terrible Asserting (@awfulannouncing) September 4, 2025
That is a type of jaw-dropping takes that sounds insane whenever you first hear it, however when you let it sit for a short while, you begin to perceive what he’s saying.
Brady was a sixth-round pick of faculty, whereas Brees was a second-rounder, so there’s not a lot case to be made that both of them was a generational expertise out of faculty.
Manning was a primary total decide, however he struggled mightily as a rookie and took some time to develop the psychological facet of the sport that finally turned his calling card as an all-time nice quarterback.
Clark is alluding to the truth that all three of those QBs didn’t have the apparent bodily traits that you just’d affiliate with generational quarterback expertise, which isn’t to discredit what they achieved or how surgical they have been as passers.
Brady, Manning, and Brees turned generational skills in non-physical methods, whereas gamers like Patrick Mahomes and Andrew Luck have been praised as generational skills as a consequence of their distinctive bodily talents.
