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Former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark got dressed up as former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for Halloween and the reactions have been mixed.
Ryan Clark, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and then-Washington Redskins during his NFL career, went all out for the costume as he donned think white makeup alongside Belichick’s iconic cut-off hoodie. Other than the hoodie, however, Clark doesn’t look much like Belichick at all, and more like a chunky, melting apparition.
Scroll through the replies to Clark’s Bill Belichick costume and you’ll see many comments debating whether or not he should be allowed to get away with doing a “whiteface” costume.
“White face! he should be canceled, fined, and not allowed on the air until a public apology is made to Bill Belichick,” one tweet complained.
“If the roles were reversed there would be people on all networks up in arms. Enough already,” said another.
The Inside crew dressed up as each other for Halloween 😂@Realrclark25 | @Ochocinco | @Joel9one pic.twitter.com/llmNx0xtdx
— Inside the NFL (@insidetheNFL) October 31, 2024
How we feeling about @Realrclark25‘s Halloween costume? 😅 pic.twitter.com/Q3PtE9Fv73
— Inside the NFL (@insidetheNFL) October 31, 2024
Not all of the reactions were so hyperserious, however, as other football fans replied with more relaxed responses.
“He looks like Teddy Perkins from the Atlanta episode…” one reply to ESPN’s video said.
“Clark looking like an old white lady who’s trying a new hairstyle,” said another.
“I just think everyone needs to stop being offended by everything. They were both having fun with it and making fun of each other. If Bill would have been offended, then maybe you have something to cry about,” another football fan weighed in.
It’s certainly interesting to see the reaction to Clark’s costume — Inside the NFL (not to be confused with the show he works on for ESPN) even went as far as promoting it on social media — as it’s not difficult to imagine that the reaction to, let’s say, Pat McAfee dressing up as Mike Tomlin would be a lot more vitriolic.
The same can be said as Myles Garrett dressing up as Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator: imagine if Joe Burrow showed up on Sunday dressed as Muhammad Ali? Whether or not you’re offended by something like that is up to you, but as the reactions to Clark’s costume prove, there’s plenty of people out there who are.