BRADENTON, Fla. — The 49ers played defense on Thursday, this time sticking up for the team’s radio analyst, Tim Ryan, who was
suspended for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints for comments he made about Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“I know Tim personally and I listened to the dialogue and saw it written, and honestly, I wasn’t as outraged as everyone else,” said cornerback Richard Sherman, one of two prominent African American players who spoke up for Ryan.
During an interview on KNBR, the 49ers’ flagship station, on Monday, Ryan said the 49ers had trouble defending Jackson on zone-read plays — ones in which he can either hand the ball to a running back or keep it himself — because they lost track of the ball during Sunday’s loss in Baltimore.
“He’s really good at that thing, Lamar Jackson,” Ryan said during Monday’s interview. “But when you consider his dark skin color 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. If you’re a half step slow on him in terms of your vision, forget about it, he’s out of the gate.”
In a statement announcing Ryan’s suspension on Wednesday, the 49ers said the analyst needs to be “more thoughtful with his words.” Ryan, 52, has been the team’s radio analyst 2014 and previously worked as a commentator for Fox.
Former 49ers defensive end Dennis Brown, who appears on KNBR’s 49ers pre- and postgame shows as well
The Athletic’s “
Here’s the Catch” podcast, will replace Ryan in the radio booth alongside play-by-play announcer Greg Papa on Sunday.
News of the suspension came long after Wednesday’s practice ended. On Thursday, players were quick to defend Ryan, with Sherman saying there was merit to what Ryan said — the 49ers indeed lost sight of the ball in Baltimore.
“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 (the ball) on film,” Sherman said.
“(Jackson’s) making the play fake and sometimes he’s swinging his arm really fast and you’re like, “OK, does he have the ball on that play?’ Then you look up and (running back Mark) Ingram’s running it,” Sherman continued. “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.’ But I’ve had a relationship with him since I got here. And he’s never been anything but a great guy and a professional and a guy who takes his job seriously. So it’s unfortunate that that’s what it came to.”
Ryan issued a statement on Wednesday apologizing for his word choice and also spent time at the team hotel apologizing to players.
“He walked up to me earlier and before he even said anything, I told him, ‘I got your back,'” defensive end Dee Ford said. “I already knew the story. The words kind of got taken out of context. Of course, I think he knows he could have used a better judgment with his words.”
The defense of Ryan underscores how connected he is with the team, especially the defensive players. He not only regularly attends practices, he’s often on the field during those sessions. He’s developed a particularly close relationship with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
“I’ve always, as a human being, tried to judge people on how I interact with them,” Saleh said Thursday. “And I love the man. He’s a very genuine human being. And I know he knows he made a mistake. And he’s just trying to move on as quickly as possible.”
“We’ve got his back,” Ford said. “I knew what he was trying to say. This era we live in. But I know him personally. I speak to him a lot. He loves to watch the D-line. And there’s not one bone — you know what type of bone I’m talking about — in his body. So I got his back. So we put that to bed really fast.”