BRADENTON, Fla. – The 49ers suspended radio broadcast analyst Tim Ryan for one game and apologized to the Baltimore Ravens for a comment he made about quarterback Lamar Jackson during a Monday appearance on KNBR.
The 49ers made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday:
“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.”
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During an appearance on KNBR’s Murph & Mac Show, Ryan talked about Jackson’s ability to run the read option and the difficulties it caused for the 49ers’ defense on Sunday.
“He’s really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson, but when you consider his dark skin color with the dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see the thing,” Ryan said on the show (H/T 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 released a statement through the team on Wednesday to apologize for his comment.
“I regret my choice of words in trying to describe the conditions of the game,” Ryan said. “Lamar Jackson is an MVP-caliber player and I respect him greatly. I want to sincerely apologize to him and anyone else I offended.”
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Jackson rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in the Ravens’ 20-17 victory over the 49ers on Sunday.
On the season, Jackson has rushed for 977 yards and is closing in on the NFL single-season record for yards rushing by a quarterback. Michael Vick ran for 1,039 yards in 2006.
Jackson has also thrown for 2,532 yards with 25 touchdown passes and five interceptions. He has a passer rating of 109.7.