Carelessness can be costly.
San Francisco 49ers radio color commentator Tim Ryan became a
national talking point for comments he made on Monday during
an interview on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac Show.” KNBR is a San
Francisco radio station that is the flagship for the 49ers and Major
League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants.
The 49ers suspended Ryan for Sunday’s pivotal NFC showdown
against the New Orleans Saints, both teams are 10-2.
The reason for the suspension were comments Ryan made about
Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson on the heels of
Baltimore’s 20-17 win over San Francisco. Ryan said that Jackson,
who is black, has an advantage in faking handoffs because of his
"dark skin color with a dark football."
“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 San Francisco radio station KNBR’s
“Murph & Mac Show" on Monday.
“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.”
In that contest, Jackson rushed for 101 yards in the game and has tallied
977 yards for the season, 62 yards shy of Michael Vick’s record by a
quarterback, set in 2006. Ryan has apologized for his comments and
49ers defensive players Richard Sherman and Dee Ford have come to
Ryan’s defense. Reactions to Ryan’s comments have ranged from
labeling him a racist to the comment was poorly conveyed to no big
deal.
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After listening to a day of sports talk radio and reading various comments
on social media, I unpack a few things from this issue:
Understanding history
Though Denver’s Marlin Briscoe was the NFL’s first starting black
quarterback in 1968 for the Denver Broncos, the position has been
predominantly white. I’m not saying that is good or bad, it’s just reality.
In the Super Bowl era, including the aforementioned Briscoe, there were
nine black starting quarterbacks from 1968-1983. From 1984 to present,
spanning 35 years, there have been 24 black starting quarterbacks.
The common perception about black quarterbacks has included but not
limited to: a) They are athletic runners but not accurate passers and b)
They are not best suited to be team leaders. From my vantage point,
these assessments are accurate in some circles but inaccurate in others.
Relative to Jackson, he was a Heisman Trophy winner in 2016 and the
Ravens drafted him in the first round as the 32nd overall pick. Many
pundits suggested Jackson should change positions to wide receiver.
Jackson, however, remained adamant about staying at quarterback and
in his second season is putting up an MVP season. By all means,
Jackson’s success should be celebrated.
The “I’m offended” era
Former KNBR sports talk show host Ralph Barbieri frequently uttered
the phrase “two things can be equally true.” In this case, those two
things are a) People have always been offended and b) Those emotions
are disseminated much faster.
In the pre-internet era, if you were offended and/or outraged by something
that anyone said, chances are, you were fuming but you either had to call
that person on the phone or write them a snail mail letter. If you did the
former, you might not reach that person immediately. If you did the latter,
you wrote the letter but probably calmed down later. In the social media
era, bam, you write something incendiary and hit send. It’s there for the
whole world to see. It’s like the difference between attacking with an
assault rifle as opposed to a musket.
Ryan’s platform was the worst place to articulate his message
Ryan’s comments gave off the vibe of trying to be funny, cute and present
some levity. Instead, his comments were carelessly articulated. Being
an NFL broadcaster where the pressbox is multiple levels above the field,
I can understand where it’s hard to follow the ball, especially in the rainy
conditions.
Ryan’s point may technically be valid but I don’t consider his
aforementioned comments to be an advantage. Faking handoffs and using
deception is a skill that many quarterbacks of multiple races have possessed
for eons.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Most of us have friends and/or acquaintances
from various races. I would be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts or
potatoes to turnips, that you have said things in a joking fashion about the
other person’s race. The difference is that we are saying these things among
friends that you know will not take offense to what is said, for the most part
anyhow.
anyhow.
Ryan, on the other hand, should know better because he talks for a living
and when talking to a radio audience, you will encounter some that will
think nothing of what you said and others that will get a bug up their rear
end.
I have no reason whatsoever to think Ryan is a racist but his message was
articulated poorly.
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