Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who recently engaged in a Twitter battle with Baltimore running back Ray Rice about Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward's drunken-driving arrest, took it to another level Tuesday by dismissing the Ravens as true rivals.
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"People try to make this game between the Ravens and the Steelers like so much of a rivalry, of a fight, you know," Clark told KDKA-FM in Pittsburgh. "You can say it's a rivalry if you like, but for something to be a rivalry, I think both teams have to win equally. The hate between the fans doesn't make it a rivalry. Teams have to win equally, and that really hasn't been the case in our situation."
The Steelers have won seven of the last 10 meetings with the Ravens, including last season's AFC Divisional Playoff Game in Pittsburgh. The Steelers lead the all-time series 21-12.
Clark also said he believes the Ward arrest had been overblown, but he felt he had to say something when Rice took his opinions to Twitter.
"I think people have made it a bigger deal than it was supposed to be," Clark said. "I just think it was just kind of tasteless for (Rice) to say that. I just felt like it should be addressed, but I didn't want to address it in a negative manner. It kind of turned negative with his comment back to me."
The exchange began with Rice tweeting Saturday, "Well it looks like Hines Ward will miss week 1 when the lockout ends DUI charge not a good look."
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Clark responded: "So glad you could Weigh in. Thx," to which Rice replied: "it's whatever u wanna do bro you know how to find me."
Clark then promised to pick up the conversation later.
"I hear ya brother. Thought we were all better than that," he tweeted. "Wouldnt speak negative of you. I'll find you! It's not hard. God bless."
Ward, a former Super Bowl MVP, was pulled over by a transit officer just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday in Atlanta after he left his lane and at one point hit a curb, police said. The officer asked Ward to get out of the car and administered a series of field sobriety tests, including a hand-held breath test that registered positive for alcohol.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
