ESPN's Parker suspended for comments about RGIII

[ThomasTomasz]

ESPN has suspended commentator Rob Parker for 30 days for comments he made about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III during a Dec. 13 episode of "First Take."


Parker
The suspension comes one day after Parker issued an apology on his Twitter account. On the show, he was discussing Griffin's answer to a question about Griffin's role as an African-American quarterback, and Parker questioned Griffin's "blackness," citing that the player has a white fiancée and is rumored to be Republican.

Among his comments, Parker, who is black, said: "Is he a brother or a cornball brother?"

In his apology, Parker said he reached out to Griffin's agent with the hope of apologizing to Griffin directly.

"I blew it and I'm sincerely sorry," Parker posted on Twitter. "I completely understand how the issue of race in sports is a sensitive one and needs to be handled with great care."

ESPN issued a statement Thursday announcing the suspension.

"Our review of the preparation for the show and the re-air has established that mistakes both in judgment and communication were made," said Marcia Keegan, vice president of production for ESPN who oversees "First Take." "As a direct result, clearly inappropriate content was aired and then re-aired without editing. Both were errors on our part. To address this, we have enhanced the editorial oversight of the show and have taken appropriate disciplinary measures with the personnel responsible for these failures.

"We will continue to discuss important issues in sports on 'First Take,' including race. Debate is an integral part of sports and we will continue to engage in it on 'First Take.' However, we believe what we have learned here and the steps we have taken will help us do all that better."

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/8766638/rob-parker-suspended-espn-30-days

Just 30 days? I thought it would have been more for that.

 

[ram29jackson]

"Is he a brother or a cornball brother?"

while its stupid LOL its not suspension worthy. What A bunch of dweebs. I dont see any racial slur problems here.


meanwhile a black defensive lineman will yell " we gonna fuckin take you down today nigga" at RG III during a game on the field of play and no one will be punished for it.

 

[JimLeavy59]

while its stupid LOL its not suspension worthy. What A bunch of dweebs. I dont see any racial slur problems here.


meanwhile a black defensive lineman will yell " we gonna fuckin take you down today nigga" at RG III during a game on the field of play and no one will be punished for it.

:homieslol:

 

[Maynard]

imagine a white reporter questioning a white mans whiteness because he was dating a black woman

yeah, i just made ramjackson look like a dumbass. not really a difficult task but still noteworthy

 

[Argath]

imagine a white reporter questioning a white mans whiteness because he was dating a black woman

yeah, i just made ramjackson look like a dumbass. not really a difficult task but still noteworthy

I think you made yourself look like a dumbass


Stephen A. Smith said it best right after the comments during the show. There's a difference between talking in your barbershop and talking on national television. There are certain things you can and cannot say, whether you like it or not. There was no reason to start talking about RGIII being engaged to white woman or anything of the sort. Hell, there's no reason to talk about RGIII's "blackness" it has nothing to do with sports. The show is ESPN First Take not Maury or Jerry Springer. Besides, since when do you assume the ethnicity of your spouse? There was no need to go there at all. 30 day suspension is definitely warranted for this tard. Same guy who tried to say Stephen A. Smith supported drunk driving because Smith said there was nothing wrong with having a beer at a football game. Shoulda canned his ass.

 

[ram29jackson]

 

[dave]

ESPN goes out of its way to promote these buffoons, but the second they go 100% buffoon, they're suspended?
My guess is he's getting full pay and this is just ESPN's way of saying they don't want their hosts calling someone a house N-word, when they really do.
If this guy deserves a 30-day suspension, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless deserve to be executed ... and their NFL Sunday crew, save for Tom Jackson, deserves one year suspensions.

 

[Maynard]

I think you made yourself look like a dumbass


Stephen A. Smith said it best right after the comments during the show. There's a difference between talking in your barbershop and talking on national television. There are certain things you can and cannot say, whether you like it or not. There was no reason to start talking about RGIII being engaged to white woman or anything of the sort. Hell, there's no reason to talk about RGIII's "blackness" it has nothing to do with sports. The show is ESPN First Take not Maury or Jerry Springer. Besides, since when do you assume the ethnicity of your spouse? There was no need to go there at all. 30 day suspension is definitely warranted for this tard. Same guy who tried to say Stephen A. Smith supported drunk driving because Smith said there was nothing wrong with having a beer at a football game. Shoulda canned his ass.

you are quoting smith....need i say more?

 

[Argath]

you are quoting smith....need i say more?

What did smith say that was wrong in this situation exactly?

 

[s@ppisgod]

ESPN goes out of its way to promote these buffoons, but the second they go 100% buffoon, they're suspended?
My guess is he's getting full pay and this is just ESPN's way of saying they don't want their hosts calling someone a house N-word, when they really do.
If this guy deserves a 30-day suspension, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless deserve to be executed ... and their NFL Sunday crew, save for Tom Jackson, deserves one year suspensions.

They pay them TO say this stupid shit. Suspended? Get real. ESPN is all calculated shit to get these lowest common denominator morons to talk about THEIR "personalities" instead of *gasp* actual sports! I don't buy for one goddamn second that they punished Parker at all. They love that someone on their network created a stir, and is now getting talked about by people to stupid to see through the BS that they manufacture. This is what they do now. The funny part is Parker is pretty much just their lap-dog, stirring the pot for them because that's what they want. If anybody is a house niglet, it's him.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I think you made yourself look like a dumbass


Stephen A. Smith said it best right after the comments during the show. There's a difference between talking in your barbershop and talking on national television. There are certain things you can and cannot say, whether you like it or not. There was no reason to start talking about RGIII being engaged to white woman or anything of the sort. Hell, there's no reason to talk about RGIII's "blackness" it has nothing to do with sports. The show is ESPN First Take not Maury or Jerry Springer. Besides, since when do you assume the ethnicity of your spouse? There was no need to go there at all. 30 day suspension is definitely warranted for this tard. Same guy who tried to say Stephen A. Smith supported drunk driving because Smith said there was nothing wrong with having a beer at a football game. Shoulda canned his ass.

Stephen A Smith, the same guy who called Kobe Bryant "nigga" on the air ("Kobe, are you telling me a toe injury is going to keep you out if the lineup? Nigga, please!"), and then refused to admit it ("I speak fast, and people may have misunderstood a word I used"), being the arbiter of acceptable on air vernacular is pretty rich.

 

[Argath]

Stephen A Smith, the same guy who called Kobe Bryant "nigga" on the air ("Kobe, are you telling me a toe injury is going to keep you out if the lineup? Nigga, please!"), and then refused to admit it ("I speak fast, and people may have misunderstood a word I used"), being the arbiter of acceptable on air vernacular is pretty rich.

Not sayin man is perfect or even a good sports analyst just sayin he's right in this situation

Besides if being engaged to a white woman is cause for losing your "blackness" then I'm pretty sure there's only a few hundred black men in the US

 

[ralaw]

I think you made yourself look like a dumbass


Stephen A. Smith said it best right after the comments during the show. There's a difference between talking in your barbershop and talking on national television. There are certain things you can and cannot say, whether you like it or not. There was no reason to start talking about RGIII being engaged to white woman or anything of the sort. Hell, there's no reason to talk about RGIII's "blackness" it has nothing to do with sports. The show is ESPN First Take not Maury or Jerry Springer. Besides, since when do you assume the ethnicity of your spouse? There was no need to go there at all. 30 day suspension is definitely warranted for this tard. Same guy who tried to say Stephen A. Smith supported drunk driving because Smith said there was nothing wrong with having a beer at a football game. Shoulda canned his ass.

I agree, Parker crossed the line and should have been suspended for it. There certainly are conversations that go on in private, but you don't come on air and say them. Parker was an idiot. I highly doubt ESPN "planned" this. ESPN gets enough attention to have to plan something like this. Parker much like anyone else just has ideas and impressions about people and he was dumb enough to say it on air.

 

[Senser81]

I think you made yourself look like a dumbass


Stephen A. Smith said it best

Irony. I stopped reading at this point of Argath's posting. Maybe his posting made sense, but I'll never know.

This situation reminds me of ESU starting tailback Ray Griffen II dating a white girl and having his blackness questioned by backup tailback Darnell Jefferson.

Hmm...Ray Griffen II...Robert Griffin III...COINCIDENCE??????

 

[BigBucs]

Stephen A Smith, the same guy who called Kobe Bryant "nigga" on the air ("Kobe, are you telling me a toe injury is going to keep you out if the lineup? Nigga, please!"), and then refused to admit it ("I speak fast, and people may have misunderstood a word I used"), being the arbiter of acceptable on air vernacular is pretty rich.

Wasnt calling him a nigga (even though he did say it) ...... continue on.

 

[Senser81]

Wasnt calling him a nigga (even though he did say it) ...... continue on.

Makes sense. It would also be acceptable for Bob Costas to call Tony Dungy "Fuckface" on the air, as long as he did it endearingly.

 

[RosettaStoned]

Irony. I stopped reading at this point of Argath's posting. Maybe his posting made sense, but I'll never know.

This situation reminds me of ESU starting tailback Ray Griffen II dating a white girl and having his blackness questioned by backup tailback Darnell Jefferson.

Hmm...Ray Griffen II...Robert Griffin III...COINCIDENCE??????

 

[Garrett67]

Just 30 days? I thought it would have been more for that.

Its because its a black guy talking about a black guy. If Parker was white, he probably would have been fired.

 

[Sven Draconian]

When Rob Parker was a radio dufus in Detroit he said moronic stuff like this regularly. His schtick wore thin and eventually he and his fellow dufus lost their show. ESPN knew exactly what they were getting when they hired him, and like others have said, are applauding him behind closed doors. He did exactly what ESPN wants, said something extremely controversial without going so far that they have a PR issue on their hands. Everybody is going to talk about what Rob Parker said, that dumbass blah blah blah without screaming about racism and demanding ESPN fire him.

It's really sad that as sports fans, with all the information we have available to analyze sports, continue to allow ESPN thrive by promoting this non sense. Luckily the sports networks are starting to up the ante with regards to providing real analysis.

 

[Houston]

2 weeks ago Rob Parker said The Packers were the best team in the NFL.

Glad to see him go.