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Former ESPN star Trey Wingo wants to set the record straight.
Former NFL linebacker and former ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho argued that Ryan Clark built ESPN’s “NFL Live” into the “juggernaut” it is today, and Wingo was having none of it.
“Ryan Clark built NFL Live into the juggernaut it is today (along with Rutledge, Mina and Spears), he didn’t idea NFL Live, there is a difference,” Acho wrote.
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Trey Wingo looks on during the first round of the American Century Championship on July 10, 2026 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nev. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Wingo, who hosted “NFL Live” for 15 years, from 2003 to 2018, hit back at Acho’s claim that Clark built the show by posting a graphic showing its ratings over the years, which he said disproved Acho’s claim.
The graphic, which was based on numbers reported by ESPN, showed that “NFL Live” averaged 688,000 viewers during a comparable early season period in 2013 and 624,000 in 2012. It averaged about 486,000 in 2015, 49106, 0 in 006, 492, 2021 and 440,000 in 2025.
Wingo captioned his post on X, “”Let your apology be as loud as your disrespect.” I think someone said that once.”
The former ESPN host’s line about letting your apology be as loud as your disrespect referenced a spat in which Acho insulted former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and later apologized to him.
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Emmanuel Acho speaks on stage during the ADL Never Is Now Summit at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on March 17, 2026. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for ADL)
Acho’s first tweet was in response to OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske. Zaksheske started the interaction thread by responding to a clip from “The Breakfast Club,” in which the morning show hosts said Clark built “NFL Live.”
“NFL Live premiered in 1998 when Clark was 18 years old, four years before he entered the NFL and 17 years before he joined ESPN,” Zaksheske wrote on X.
Responding to Zaksheske, Acho agreed with “The Breakfast Club,” saying “And nobody watched NFL Live back then,” referencing the show’s existence before Clark joined it.
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ESPN is parting ways with longtime NFL analyst Ryan Clark after an 11-year run at the network. (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Wingo spent nearly 23 years at ESPN and was not retained as of November 2020.
Much of his tenure was spent hosting and building “NFL Live,” hosting during its peak year in 2013.
Clark joined ESPN in 2015 and spent more than 11 seasons with the network, overlapping about five years with Wingo. As his time at ESPN progressed, he became an increasingly polarizing figure.
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Pakinomist Digital reached out to Acho for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
