#49ers Richard Sherman says the reaction to Tim Ryan’s statement about Lamar Jackson’s “dark skin” may have been overblown: pic.twitter.com/6YjAQXl2sd
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) December 5, 2019
49ers radio broadcaster Tim Ryan has found himself at the center of a national controversy after comments he made regarding Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on the “Murph & Mac Show” Monday.
“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 regarding Jackson’s effectiveness using play-action. “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 has been suspended by the 49ers for the upcoming game on Sunday vs. the Saints.
On Thursday after practice, both Richard Sherman and Dee Ford were asked about Ryan’s comment. Both said the situation has been blown out of proportion — and that Ryan’s take has some validity — but that he should’ve chosen his words more carefully. Both also confirmed Ryan has apologized to the team.
“Yeah, I know Tim personally and I listened to the dialogue and saw it written and honestly, I wasn’t as outraged as everyone else,” Sherman began. “I understand how it can be taken under a certain context and be offensive to some. But if you’re saying, ‘Hey, this is a brown ball, they’re wearing dark colors and he has a brown arm.’ Honestly, sometimes we were having trouble seeing it on film.
“When he’s making a play-fake and he’s swinging his arm really fast and you’re like, ‘OK, does he have the ball on that play?’ And then you look up and (Mark) Ingram’s running it. So it was technically a valid point, but you can always phrase things better, you can always phrase things and not say, ‘his black skin.’
“I’ve had a relationship with him since I’ve gotten here, he’s never been anything but a great guy and a professional and a guy that takes the job seriously. It’s unfortunate that that’s what it came to, but the team did what they had to do. But in that situation, it’s a play where he’s talking football and he could have used better verbiage, but I don’t think anybody in this locker room was taking it offensively or anything. He’s apologized and we know his character, so hopefully this can blow over and we can move past it.”
Ford echoed Sherman’s sentiment and expressed disappointment that the “era we live in” contributed to the story being overblown.
“He walked up to me earlier and before he even said anything I told him ‘I got your back,” Ford said. “I already knew the story, the words kind of got taken out of context. Of course I think he knows now he could’ve used better judgement with his words, but we got his back. I knew what he was trying to say.
“This era we live in, it’s just what it is, but I know him personally. I speak to him a lot. He loves to watch the d-line, and there’s not one type of bone, you know what type of bone, in his body. I got his back. Put that to bed really fast.
“I wasn’t on the field so I wouldn’t know. I would not refute that at all though, because it’s tough man. It’s tough and it’s raining. We know what he was trying to say. It’s just the era we live in, it’s messed up. Internally we got his back. He’ll bounce back.”
#49ers Dee Ford spoke to suspended radio analyst Tim Ryan and told him “I’ve got your back” pic.twitter.com/tcrU3TVI0O
— ??? ????? (@CamInman) December 5, 2019