ESPN commentator thinks RG3.....

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

This tool is actually paid by the 4 letter network?

ESPN commentator on RG3: “He’s kind of black, but he’s not really”

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 13, 2012, 3:08 PM EST

 

ReutersRedskins quarterback Robert Griffin III recently said in a recent interview that he didn’t want to be defined as an African-American quarterback. One ESPN commentator says that raises questions about Griffin.

 

In fact, ESPN’s Rob Parker said Thursday morning on First Take that as an African-American, he has a lot of questions about Griffin.

 

“My question is, and it’s just a straight, honest question: Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother,” Parker said. “He’s not really. He’s black, he does his thing, but he’s not really down with the cause. He’s not one of us. He’s kind of black, but he’s not really like the kind of guy you really want to hang out with.”

 

Parker said he wants to know more about Griffin’s personal life before he can accept Griffin as authentically black.

 

“I want to find about him,” Parker said. “I don’t know because I keep hearing these things. We all know he has a white fiancee. Then there was all this talk about he’s a Republican, which there’s no information at all. I’m just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue. Because we did find out with Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods was like, ‘I’ve got black skin, but don’t call me black.’ So people wondered about Tiger Woods.”

 

Asked by fellow panelist Skip Bayless about the fact that Griffin braids his hair, Parker said that’s an aspect of Griffin that he approves of.

 

“That’s different, because, to me, that’s very urban,” Parker said. “Wearing braids is, you’re a brother. You’re a brother if you’ve got braids.”

 

Another panelist on the show, Stephen A. Smith, said he wasn’t comfortable with how Parker had framed his argument.

 

“First of all, let me say this: I’m uncomfortable with where we just went,” Smith said when asked to respond to Parker. “RG3, the ethnicity or the color of his fiancee is none of our business, it’s irrelevant, he can live his life in whatever way he chooses. The braids that he has in his hair, that’s his business, that’s his life, he can live his life. I don’t judge someone’s blackness based on those kinds of things. I just don’t do that. I’m not that kind of guy.”

 

I asked an ESPN spokesman whether the network had any response to Parker’s comments on the air and will post it if ESPN does issue a response. But ESPN obviously thought Parker’s comments were worth repeating: When Best of First Take aired on Thursday afternoon, the show ended with a replay of the discussion about Griffin.

 

Never thought I'd agree so much with Stephen A Smith. WTF does this guy think he is? Griffin isn't keepin it real enough for him.

 

He'd better be fired....soon!

[uwmalcolm 73]

This tool is actually paid by the 4 letter network?

 

 

Never thought I'd agree so much with Stephen A Smith. WTF does this guy think he is? Griffin isn't keepin it real enough for him.

 

He'd better be fired....soon!

Wow. Totally agree with what you wrote!

 

Uh oh...I wonder if my whiteness is in question because I like hip-hop music?

[southcarolina 166]

This tool is actually paid by the 4 letter network?

 

 

Never thought I'd agree so much with Stephen A Smith.

 

Where are we as a society when SASmith is acting as the voice of reason? Im scared.

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

Where are we as a society when SASmith is acting as the voice of reason? Im scared.

 

Smith learned from the best....The Fresh Prince. Maybe Rob Parker should go back and catch some Fresh Prince.

 

[southcarolina 166]

Smith learned from the best....The Fresh Prince. Maybe Rob Parker should go back and catch some Fresh Prince.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOY9CbIK9zk

 

Wait...is that RG3 as Will Smith's cousin?

[chroniciguana 13]

Interesting, because RG3 never said he didn't want to be an African-American, he said he didn't want to be an African-American quarterback. He wants to be a quarterback. Period. Don't just hold him next to Cam Newton or Michael Vick. Also hold him next to the Mannings and Tom Brady. We recently had a thread here seeking opinions on who was the best black quarterback ever. In response, I considered starting one seeking similar opinions on who was the best Lutheran quarterback ever. Figured those dots would never connect.

 

The Reuters piece on the ESPN thing mentions "quarterback" in the lede, but then focuses entirely on "African-American" throughout the body of the story. This would have been easy, as RG3 is already on the record with his thoughts on the African-American quarterback thing. After reading this piece, I'm wondering if I'm an authentic Caucasian. I don't like mayonnaise or coffee, I've never been to a film festival or owned a Volvo, and I can actually dance and play basketball. Am seriously lacking some white guy cred. Gosh golly, guess I gotta get down with the cause.

[Patmos 2]

"We all know he has a white fiancee. Then there was all this talk about he’s a Republican"

Wow, just wow....all this guy is doing is demonstrating his own personal ignorance.

[murf74 461]

"We all know he has a white fiancee. Then there was all this talk about he’s a Republican"

Wow, just wow....all this guy is doing is demonstrating his own personal ignorance.

 

Republican .......that's probably what set him off

[Boilermaker04 11]

If ESPN doesn't fire him they should be ashamed of their own ethical standards.

[murf74 461]

If ESPN doesn't fire him they should be ashamed of their own ethical standards.

Rush limbaugh should have said McNabb isn't black enough rather than saying isn't good enough QB.

[Vikings4ever 496]

If ESPN doesn't fire him they should be ashamed of their own ethical standards.

They didn't fire Irvin for saying Romo's great great granny banged a black dude.

[Dueces Will Be Wild 15]

Reason 878956 ESPN sucks: They hire idiots that spew this crap rather than offer any real analysis or information.

 

Reason 878957 ESPN sucks: People actually care what this moron said, they talk about it, post about it, blog about it, link the story on forums, and increase the number of views making them think this is what people want.

[DrMantisToboggan 5]

Like Rob Parker can judge anyone for not being black enough.

 

He is the biggest Uncle Tom on the whole espn staff.

[rallo 132]

Republican .......that's probably what set him off

 

i know... RGIII isn't stupid... if you have money you vote republican... apparently Baylor isn't such a bad school

[brownsseasonticketholder 1]

It's Michael Smith, need Steve btw.

[The Next Generation 10]

It's Michael Smith, need Steve btw.

 

"Another panelist on the show, Stephen A. Smith, said he wasn’t comfortable with how Parker had framed his argument."

[Joey Gladstone 33]

Quite the paradox, putting more pressure on young black athletes to "represent" their race. You don't see Skip Bayless questioning Luck's crackerness. Just a stupid distraction to throw out in front of a kid and exhibit A as to how our media has too much time on their hands, too much air time to fill. Rob Parker is just a "hater".

 

And Stephen A. Smith has toned down his act a LOT in the past few years. He's been a voice of reason for a while now compared to how he was circa 2004.

[PackYourNut 47]

RGIII is is very intelligent, unlike those other jigs... He realizes that in order to be accepted as equals, you can't continue to preface your self as "black"... He doesnt want to be known as "Black QB", he wants to be a "QB", he doesnt want to be the "greatest black qb", he wants to be the "greatest QB"...

 

These other guys are still wrapped up in the "Our forefathers had it bad, so we should get special treatment" mindset and what they don't realize, is that only slows the process of ever actually being equal.

 

You dont hear people say, I'm Italian American or Irish American anymore. 100 years ago they did and just like "blacks", people of those ethnicity were treated differently because of their heritage. Once they shed the "preface" and just got on with the business of being American, then everything changed for them.

 

The same thing will happen over time for black people. Unfortunately, there are people (Al Sharpton, Rev. Jackson, etc) that are hell bent on making money off of it at the expense of their own peoples equality.

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

RGIII is is very intelligent, unlike those other jigs...

 

Congrats for winning the idiot post of the day award on the internets.

[BarackOdrama 0]

Just saw on Sportscenter that he's suspended indefinitely.

[Joey Gladstone 33]

RGIII is is very intelligent, unlike those other jigs

 

Yeah, this isn't the most politically correct board (and thank god for that) but come on....

 

Also, Russell Wilson is lucky he plays in Seattle

[Raider 84 29]

I don't know if he's black or white, but RGIII is one amazing QB!

[steel827 2]

Who is Rob Parker? Exactly.

 

Just my two pennies

[GreenTD 56]

Who is Rob Parker? Exactly.

 

Just my two pennies

 

He's just an ESPN analyst that fills in on First Take every now & then if Steven A. Smith or Skip Bayless aren't available. He's been alright on the show in the past but this was just ridiculous.

 

It's refreshing to see pro athletes, regardless of what their race is, who take their "job" seriously. It's frustrating as a middle-class individual who works 50-60 hours weekly to watch sports where the athletes who make millions of dollars treat their job like it's a joke. RGIII is one of these smart, hard-working players that I respect & enjoy watching play on Sundays. Then you have this clown Rob Parker criticize him for not being "black" enough?

 

Are you fockin kidding me?!?!

[Voltaire 4,564]

Who is Rob Parker? Exactly.

 

Just my two pennies

He spent years as a sports writer then columnist with the Detroit News. As an everyday reader of the local sports pages, I must have read most if not everything he ever wrote during his time in Detroit. Quality writer regardless of race (although his fine reputation just took a torpedo hit). I never saw this side of him before.

 

I never thought of Parker as a black columnist, I thought of him as a columnist, a quality one. The only reason I knew he was black was from the pic next to the byline. I wish he would see RG3 the same way I saw him.

[urban1 0]

Parker has a long track record of controversy due to his being a retard.

 

Edit: Look at his Wiki to see a sampling of what he's been up to over the years.

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

Cornball Brother has been let go....for all the right reasons I'm sure.

 

ESPN fires Rob Parker

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 8, 2013, 2:57 PM EST

Rob Parker, the commentator who created controversy when he questioned whether Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is a “cornball brother” because he has a white fiancee, has been fired by ESPN.

 

“Rob Parker’s contract expired at year end. Evaluating our needs and his work, including his recent RGIII comments, we decided not to renew,” an ESPN spokesman said in a written statement.

 

ESPN can spin this as simply a decision not to renew his contract, rather than a firing, but the reality is that ESPN specifically stated on December 20 that Parker had been suspended for 30 days, and as of December 20, ESPN was expecting Parker back at the end of his 30-day suspension. (He made the comments on December 13, so a 30-day suspension from that date would have ended on January 12.)

 

So why did Parker’s discipline change from a 30-day suspension to termination? ESPN isn’t saying, but it may be that the network was unhappy with a recent interview Parker gave in which he said that ESPN knew what he was going to say on the air before he said it. In that interview, Parker also seemed to backtrack on his previous apology, complaining that people took his “cornball brother” statement out of context.

 

Parker has long been known for drawing attention to himself by stirring up controversy, and it’s unsurprising that he eventually took it too far and got himself fired. But ESPN is hardly blameless in all this: Parker made his comments on ESPN First Take, a show that celebrates provocation, and at first ESPN’s producers were so pleased with Parker’s comments about Griffin that the network re-aired the comments on Best of First Take. It was only later, after ESPN was criticized for airing the comments, that the network apologized.

 

And now, much later, ESPN has finally done what many viewers said it should have done from the beginning, and fired Parker.

[Mack 1 6]

...Quality writer regardless of race

I thoroughly disagree. As a working journalist myself, I've seen college interns with a better skill set than Rob Parker.

 

I lost all respect for this dude as a journalist when he called Detroit CB Dre' Bly an undrafted free agent in one of his columns. Huh? For the uninitiated, Bly was a second round pick by the Rams.

 

When Parker's work is compared to other Detroit columnists such as Drew Sharp or Bob Wojnowski, his shortcomings as a writer become as obvious as the nose on his face. Kudos to ESPN.

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

I thoroughly disagree. As a working journalist myself, I've seen college interns with a better skill set than Rob Parker.

 

I lost all respect for this dude as a journalist when he called Detroit CB Dre' Bly an undrafted free agent in one of his columns. Huh? For the uninitiated, Bly was a second round pick by the Rams.

 

When Parker's work is compared to other Detroit columnists such as Drew Sharp or Bob Wojnowski, his shortcomings as a writer become as obvious as the nose on his face. Kudos to ESPN.

 

I'll give no kudos to ESPN. They reacted based on public and media response. Based on what you've said about Parker the 4 letter network should have never hired him. I think they hire these guys knowing they're loose cannons who are more interested in creating controversy than they are reporting on sports.

 

Parker's comments were infuriating to me. It's crap like that which sets us back racially in society. One of the reasons I really like RG3 is because he's above stereotypes and is not afraid to say it.

 

Journalistic integrity is fleeting. Fight the good fight Mack 1.

[tikigods 76]

Steven A Smith has dropped the N word twice and still has a job.

 

I have not watched ESPN programming in over two years. Until they clean themselves up, they're a joke. I'm really glad NBC has stepped up and has offered something of a second choice to ESPN. Long way to go, but there is something as an alternative to ESPN.

[unclemercy 51]

to be fair for all intents and purposes rob parker is basically retarded. idk how this guy keeps any jobs let alone convince himself he keeps it real.