The San Francisco 49ers have suspended broadcaster Tim Ryan for one game ... after the ex-NFLer said Lamar Jackson was successful at faking hand-offs because of "his dark skin."
Ryan -- who played with the Chicago Bears from 1990-93 before starting his commentary career -- went on a KNBR radio show to discuss the Niners' 20-17 loss to the Ravens and why the QB is so good.
“He’s really good at that fake, Lamar Jackson," Ryan said. "But, when you consider his dark skin with a dark football with a dark uniform, you could not see that thing."
“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.”
Snippet of Tim Ryan’s comments RE: Lamar Jackson’s “dark skin with a dark football with a dark uniform... you could not see that thing” via KNBR. He has since been suspended by the team pic.twitter.com/vpRI3veoXK
— 49ersHive (@49ersHive) December 5, 2019
Ryan -- who joined the Niners' radio team in 2014 -- later addressed his comment, saying “I regret my choice of words in trying to describe the conditions of the game. 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 Niners released a statement on Wednesday ... announcing he will not be on the radio waves when S.F. takes on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
“We hold Tim to a high standard as a representative of our organization and he must be more thoughtful with his words," the team said.
"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.”