Why is Lamar Jackson good at faking handoffs? 49ers radio guy suspended for his theory.
South Florida native Lamar Jackson is having an MVP-caliber season for the Baltimore Ravens.
On Sunday, Jackson led the Ravens to their eighth win in a row with a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, handing the NFC team its second loss this season.
But 49ers radio broadcaster Tim Ryan didn’t spend a portion of a segment on a Monday radio show gushing over Jackson’s performance, where he ran and threw for more than 100 yards.
Instead, Ryan made some racial comments in explaining how “Jackson, who is black, is exceptional at faking handoffs because of his ‘dark skin color with a dark football,’” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The comments were made in Ryan’s weekly segment on KNBR radio show, “Murph and Mac.”
The radio station suspended Ryan on Wednesday, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
“He’s really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson, but when you consider his dark skin color with a dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see that thing,” Ryan said on air, according to the Chronicle. “I mean, you literally could not see when he was in and out of the mesh point, and if you’re a half step slow on him in terms of your vision, forget about it, he’s out of the gate.”
Ryan issued a statement through the team, the Mercury News reported.
“I regret my choice of words in trying to describe the conditions of the game,” the statement read. “Lamar Jackson is an MVP-caliber player, and I respect him greatly. I want to sincerely apologize to him and anyone else I offended.”
The 49ers are in Bradenton this week practicing at IMG Academy ahead of Sunday’s game in New Orleans.
The Mercury News reported Ryan attended Wednesday’s practice in Florida.
The 49ers also issued a statement regarding the situation, which reads, according to multiple reports:
“We are disappointed in Tim Ryan’s comments earlier this week, and have suspended him for the upcoming game. We hold Tim to a high standard as a representative of our organization, and he must be more thoughtful with his words. Tim has expressed remorse in a public statement and has also done so with us privately. We know Tim as a man of high integrity and are confident he will grow and learn from this experience.
“We have reached out to the Baltimore Ravens organization to extend our apologies and assure them the matter is not being taken lightly.”
