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Ryan Clark: Watching Son Jordan and Notre Dame Better Than Winning Super Bowl

Clark's son plays safety for the Fighting Irish.

Kyle Koster

Ryan Clark on Notre Dame's big win.
Ryan Clark on Notre Dame's big win. / Get Up on X
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Ryan Clark joined Get Up on Friday to analyze football and to be a proud dad on national television, fresh off Notre Dame's College Football Playoff victory over Penn State. Clark's son Jordan is a senior safety for the Fighting Irish and made a tackle in their 27–24 win.

Understandably emotional about going on this incredible ride with his son's team, Clark explained what it's been like.

"The sort of feelings that overwhelm you, the tears that fall down your face," he said. "To walk into the locker room last night, to walk into the lobby last night and have him still be excited about that. To have him dang near in tears because of the ride that him and his teammates and his coaches have gone on. There's is no better feeling for a father. This is better than winning a Super Bowl. Better than anything I've ever done in my career because it's my actual heart living out there on the field.

Jordan Clark and the Fighting Irish now await the winner of Friday night's Ohio State-Texas game in the title tilt. Win or lose it sounds as though members of the Notre Dame community have already gone on a ride they'll all remember for their entire lives.

And kudos to Get Up and ESPN for giving Clark the platform to share his first-person experiences. Too often we discuss sports as though they are played by a bunch of robots. Hearing about the emotions and experiences that not just the players but their support system experience when everything is on the line is a reminder that it's human beings playing these sports. And they're not just playing for themselves.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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