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Ryan Clark Calls Out Jake Paul's 'Audacity' About Playing in NFL in New Trending Video

Adam WellsAug 1, 2026

No one can say Jake Paul doesn't have full confidence in himself being able to do anything, though his assertion that he could succeed as a slot receiver in the NFL led to a debate about his athletic skill set.

Appearing on The Pivot podcast (starts at 20:30 mark), host Ryan Clark called out Paul for having the "audacity" to say he could "100 percent" play in the NFL as a Wes Welker or Julian Edelman-type receiver despite having "never stepped on a pro football field."

"I bench more than all of you," Paul said in response. "I squat more than you. I'm faster than you. Words are cheap… It can't be that hard."

Paul was at least humble enough to acknowledge he "can't do" what Justin Jefferson or Ja'Marr Chase do because they are "different level athletes" than he is, but he could fill the role of a slot receiver.

The topic came up in the wake of Paul recently claiming in an interview with Front Office Sports that multiple NFL teams have reached out about adding him to their roster.

It's certainly brazen of Paul to assume he could walk into the NFL right now and make a roster, let alone be an effective player in games. There have been great athletes in other sports who have tried it with no success.

Brock Lesnar was a world-class wrestler in college, won a national title at Minnesota in 2000 and had a successful run in WWE before deciding to attempt play in the NFL.

The Minnesota Vikings signed Lesnar in the summer of 2024 and he appeared in three preseason games before being released. He went back into combat sports soon after, putting together a 5-3 record with one no contest in mixed martial arts and winning the UFC heavyweight title.

Maybe Paul is such an outlier athlete that he could step on a football field with no prior experience and make it work, but the odds would be strongly against him pulling that off.

Paul has built up a successful boxing career with a 12-2 record in 14 professional fights.