ESPN panelist Rob Parker apologizes for RG3 comments

WASHINGTON – ESPN commentator Rob Parker has apologized for race-related comments he made about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III after being suspended from the network last week.

Parker says he has contacted RG3’s agent in hopes of apologizing directly to Griffin.

“I blew it and I’m sincerely sorry. I completely understand how the issue of race in sports is a sensitive one and needs to be handled with great care. This past Thursday I failed to do that,” Parker says in the apology.

“Robert’s thoughts about being an African-American quarterback and the impact of his phenomenal success have been discussed in other media outlets, as well as among sports fans, particularly those in the African-American community,” the apology says. “The failure was in how I chose to discuss it on First Take, and in doing so, turned a productive conversation into a negative one.”

To read the complete text of Parker’s statement, click here.

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