49ers Suspend Radio Announcer Tim Ryan After Remark About Lamar Jackson’s ‘Dark’ Skin Color

The San Francisco 49ers announced this week the suspension of radio announcer Tim Ryan for an offensive comment he made about Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson‘s dark skin tone. Ryan will not work the Niner’s road game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Ryan made the remark in his weekly appearance on KNBR radio station’s Murph and Mac morning show. He was explaining his take on Jackson’s skill in faking handoffs in the Ravens‘ victory over the 49ers last weekend and appeared to suggest the black Baltimore QB — who is believed to be a serious MVP award contender — had an advantage on the field because his skin color is so dark.

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“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,” said Ryan, according to the San Francisco 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, who was been the 49ers’ radio color analyst since 2014, later apologized to the team in a statement:

“I regret my choice of words in trying to describe the conditions of the game,” said Ryan. “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 condemned Ryan’s comments about Jackson in a statement in which they also apologized to the Ravens:

Ryan previously served as an NFL game analyst on Fox. He also played for the Chicago Bears as a defensive tackle during the early 1990s.