BRADENTON, Fla. _ Several 49ers players came to Tim Ryan's defense Thursday, a day after the radio analyst was suspended for Sunday's game after referring to Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson's "dark skin."
Ryan personally apologized to players at the team's nearby hotel, and while they vouched for his upstanding character, they also acknowledged his sensitive choice of words.
Cornerback Richard Sherman said Ryan made "valid" points that weren't personally offensive to him or the locker room. Defensive end Dee Ford added that Ryan has no racial tendencies and this controversy can be blamed on how "it's just the era we live in, it's messed up."
Ryan appeared on KNBR on Monday and said Jackson's skin helped disguise the football on his zone-read runs in Sunday's 20-17 win over the 49ers. He apologized in a team-issued statement and the organization expressed disappointment in his original comments.
Here is more of what they and others said:
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Defensive end Dee Ford
"He walked up to me and before he even said anything I told him, 'I've got your back.' I already knew the story. The words kind of got taken out of context. Of course, I think he knows now he could have used better judgment with his words. But we've got his back. knew what he was trying to say.
"This era we live in, it's just what it is. But I know him personally. I speak to him a lot. He loves to watch D-line.
"There's not one type of bone � you know what bone I'm talking about � in his body, so I've got his back, so put that to bed really fast."
(On if it was indeed hard to see the football)
"I wasn't on the field. I would not refute that at all. It's tough and it was raining and it was dark outside � not literally dark. We know what he was trying to say.
"It's just the era we live in, it's messed up. But internally we've got his back and he'll bounce back."
