Clark Weighs In on Tua "Chubby" Jokes

The Miami Dolphins quarterback got ribbed by his teammates after his weight loss

Tyreek Hill / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle had some fun with Tua Tagovailoa's weight loss, and Ryan Clark most definitely noticed the jokes.

It was a little less than a year ago that Clark, ESPN analyst and co-host of "The Pivot" podcast, created a stir when he referred at the then-much-bulkier Tua as "thick."

So, my questions are… can I laugh?

Do the wideouts have to keep his name out of their mouths too?

Was I tripping?

It’s ok to tell jokes now, because he is slim?

Y’all still mad at me?

Just asking because Reek and Waddle having a comedy show! pic.twitter.com/ZWLUWfd2ir

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) June 5, 2024

Clark's most recent reaction to the jokes not surprisingly was met with some pushback from fans, most of them pointing out that Hill and Waddle have the right to joke with Tua because they're teammates.

For those who missed it, this is what Waddle and Hill said about Tua when discussing his weight loss, Hill's comment made purposefully loud so Tua could hear as he was standing nearby waiting to do his media session Tuesday.

“I told him I missed chubby Tua, man," Waddle said. "I miss chubby Tua, man. I ain’t going to lie, I didn’t like when I saw him. I told him, I’m not (expletive) with it. I told him straight up, I’m not (expletive) with it. Eat some more or something, man.”

And Hill: "I ain’t going to lie, when I saw Tua at the Pro Bowl, I was kind of scared – dude was fat as (expletive). (laughter) He was fat, he was chubby. I was like hold on, bro. Hold on, bro. Ryan Clark said you were kind of thick, he wasn’t lying. But seeing him now and where he’s come from and how skinny he has gotten – what’s that stuff everybody is taking? Ozempic? He had to be taking that, I don’t know."

RYAN CLARK'S COMMENTS, TUA'S REACTION AND THE AFTERMATH

Clark's Tua comments came during an ESPN segment last August.

“He might spend a lot of time in the tattoo parlor,” Clark said. “He was not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised. He looks ‘happy.’ He is thick.”

A few days later, Tagovailoa was asked about the comment after a Dolphins training camp practice.

“He probably knows more about me than I know about myself,” Tagovailoa said. “Ryan has been out of the league for some time. I don’t know. It’s a little weird when other people are talking about other people when they’re not that person. It was just a little weird.

“I come from a Samoan family. Respect is everything. But if it does get to a point where — hey, a little easy on that, buddy, because I think we’re pretty tough-minded people and if we need to scrappy, we can get scrappy too. Just saying.”

Tagovailoa then directly was asked how hard he worked last offseason.

“I’m not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but it takes a lot,” Tua said. “Do you think I wanted to build all this muscle? To some extent, I wanted to be a little lighter. There’s a mixture of things that people don’t understand, that people don’t know about, that are talked about that go behind the scenes. So, I’d appreciate if you kept my name out your mouth. That’s what I’d say.”

Clark had emphasized the day before Tua's comments that his "thick" comment was a joke, but he apologized on Twitter after the quarterback offered his reaction.

When I decided to do TV I had 2 main priorities.

1. Respect all NFL players, coaches, executives and staff members.

2. Earn and keep the respect of those very same people.

Those priorities are important to me, and when I miss that mark, I have to hold myself accountable.… pic.twitter.com/YgZfcNPN8G

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) August 24, 2023

And now we can almost say this story has gone full circle.