ESPN's Rob Parker- Contract will not be renewed

[Nate DaMac]

Rob Parker will no longer be embracing debate at ESPN. Nearly a month after the commentator earned a 30-day suspension for racially charged commentary about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III during an episode of "First Take," ESPN revealed on Tuesday that his contract had expired and would not be renewed.

During an episode of "First Take" in December, Parker asked his fellow panelists if RG3 "was a brother or a cornball brother." Parker went on to cite aspects of the 22-year-old rookie's personal life and his rumored political leanings as he questioned his authenticity and connection to the African-American community. Griffin had previously spoken with USA Today about race, with those quotes seeming to spark Parker's commentary.

"For me, you don't ever want to be defined by the color of your skin,'' Griffin had said previously, via Tom Corbett of USA Today Sports. "You want to be defined by your work ethic, the person that you are, your character, your personality. That's what I've tried to go out and do."

Parker seemed to take these comments about transcending race as a repudiation by Griffin of the African-American community.

“Well, he’s black, he kind of does his thing. But he’s not really down with the cause, he’s not one of us,” Parker replied to co-host Skip Bayless when asked to clarify his "cornball" comment. “He’s kind of black. But he’s not really the guy you’d really want to hang out with because he’s off to do something else.”

The backlash to Parker's commentary was immediate on social media. The following day, ESPN announced an indefinite suspension and "full review." Despite initially defending his comments -- and insulting those on Twitter who disagreed -- Parker eventually apologized after his initial suspension. After conducting its review, ESPN announced a 30-day suspension of Parker. The most recent announcement makes clear that suspension included the remainder of the pundit's contract.

Not seeming to help his case, Parker appeared at times to be standing by his commentary during an uncomfortable interview with WDIV's Flashpoint in Detroit.

So what do you think of this story? Was ESPN right for canning him?

Personally, I just thought Rob was being stupid. He's never really presented himself to be all that smart in the first place so when I saw this stuff live I never gave it a second thought. The uproar surprised me, though.

 

[Harthan]

They're moronic comments. RG3 isn't down with the "cause"? What cause? It's idiotic. I'm so tired of the rhetoric of the media against black quarterbacks. Look at how everyone jumped to paint Cam Newton as some kind of unmotivated hack when he struggled at the start of the season. Does anyone praise him at the end of the season for actually having a higher quarterback rating than he did his rookie year? Or, if you prefer ESPN's QBR, barely taking a dip, which is pretty impressive for a young quarterback? Hell no. All anybody wanted to talk about was how he sucked; when he got good again, everyone just shut the hell up. RG3 turns in a mega year, but everyone's on Andrew Luck's dick because he's the beautiful white poster boy. He'll probably win Rookie of the Year instead of RG3, and why? Because the media hates black quarterbacks. This is just the latest incident of idiocy with regard to black quarterbacks that ESPN can't look over because it was too blatantly racist.

 

[Big Sexy]

Rob Parker is and always has been an idiot. Living in the Metro Detroit area I have read his columns and listened to his radio show many times. I very rarely agree with him and he often comes off as an arrogant know it all.

Do I think what he said should have led to his firing? Probably not, but ESPN has fired guys for less then this before so it doesn't surprise me.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I remember watching that episode. Rob Parker is a dumbass. The whole "he's not a real black man" ideology is just a racist and ignorant way of thinking. The way RG3 chooses to carry himself as a man and live his life is his personal choice, and if he's happy and not hurting anyone, why does Rob Parker feel the need to unfairly judge him?

Also, on an episode of First Take, I vaguely remember Parker telling a story about giving all of his Tiger Woods merchandise to the Salvation Army, because he was disgusted by an interview Woods gave on Oprah (I think). Of course, the interview had something to do with Woods not being black enough, or embracing his African-American heritage to Rob Parker-like levels of acceptance.

The guy is a tool, good riddance.

 

[Nate DaMac]

They're moronic comments. RG3 isn't down with the "cause"? What cause? It's idiotic. I'm so tired of the rhetoric of the media against black quarterbacks. Look at how everyone jumped to paint Cam Newton as some kind of unmotivated hack when he struggled at the start of the season. Does anyone praise him at the end of the season for actually having a higher quarterback rating than he did his rookie year? Or, if you prefer ESPN's QBR, barely taking a dip, which is pretty impressive for a young quarterback? Hell no. All anybody wanted to talk about was how he sucked; when he got good again, everyone just shut the hell up. RG3 turns in a mega year, but everyone's on Andrew Luck's dick because he's the beautiful white poster boy. He'll probably win Rookie of the Year instead of RG3, and why? Because the media hates black quarterbacks. This is just the latest incident of idiocy with regard to black quarterbacks that ESPN can't look over because it was too blatantly racist.

I agree with a lot of this, but your assessment of everyone being on Luck's nuts is 100% inaccurate. RGIII received 10x the coverage that Luck did and wasn't nearly as responsible for his team winning as Luck was. At least RG3 has a respectable running game to compliment him. The Colts asked Luck to do far more than any other franchise has ever asked of a rookie QB and he certainly delivered for the most part. The only shaky part of his game were his turnovers, but that's normal for a rookie.

Luck and RG3 have both done enough to earn the ROTY award, as did Wilson for that matter. To act outraged that one is going to win over the other is ridiculous. Luck was every bit as impressive.

And for the record, Luck is weird looking. I'd totally fuck RG3.

Also, on an episode of First Take, I vaguely remember Parker telling a story about giving all of his Tiger Woods merchandise to the Salvation Army, because he was disgusted by an interview Woods gave on Oprah (I think). Of course, the interview had something to do with Woods not being black enough, or embracing his African-American heritage to Rob Parker-like levels of acceptance.

The guy is a tool, good riddance.

I'm pretty sure it was the same episode, actually. Woods had said that he didn't want to be labeled as a black man since he had several other nationalities in him.

He's still 100% stupid, though.

 

[Harthan]

I agree with a lot of this, but your assessment of everyone being on Luck's nuts is 100% inaccurate. RGIII received 10x the coverage that Luck did and wasn't nearly as responsible for his team winning as Luck was. At least RG3 has a respectable running game to compliment him. The Colts asked Luck to do far more than any other franchise has ever asked of a rookie QB and he certainly delivered for the most part. The only shaky part of his game were his turnovers, but that's normal for a rookie.

Luck and RG3 have both done enough to earn the ROTY award, as did Wilson for that matter. To act outraged that one is going to win over the other is ridiculous. Luck was every bit as impressive.

And for the record, Luck is weird looking. I'd totally fuck RG3.

To me, his stats don't really hold up. Yeah, they've got similar win totals, but look at this comparison:

Luck: 54.1 Cmp%, 4374 passing yards, 255 rushing yards, 23 passing TD, 5 rushing TD, 76.5 QBR, 27.21 ESPN QBR
Griffin III: 65.6 Cmp%, 3200 Passing Yards, 20 Passing TDs, 815 Rushing Yards, 7 Rushing TDs, 102.4 QBR, 33.92 ESPN QBR

It's the ratings that really expose Luck. You can see how much more efficient of a quarterback Griffin is when you look at how much more yardage per attempt he gets, both passing and rushing. Andrew Luck has better totals, but Griffin is radically more efficient, and missed a little time as well. Wilson is another story, but I think the conversation even being Luck vs Griffin is unfair to Griffin, who frankly blew Luck out of the water in his rookie year.

 

[Nate DaMac]

To me, his stats don't really hold up. Yeah, they've got similar win totals, but look at this comparison:

Luck: 54.1 Cmp%, 4374 passing yards, 255 rushing yards, 23 passing TD, 5 rushing TD, 76.5 QBR, 27.21 ESPN QBR
Griffin III: 65.6 Cmp%, 3200 Passing Yards, 20 Passing TDs, 815 Rushing Yards, 7 Rushing TDs, 102.4 QBR, 33.92 ESPN QBR

It's the ratings that really expose Luck. You can see how much more efficient of a quarterback Griffin is when you look at how much more yardage per attempt he gets, both passing and rushing. Andrew Luck has better totals, but Griffin is radically more efficient, and missed a little time as well. Wilson is another story, but I think the conversation even being Luck vs Griffin is unfair to Griffin, who frankly blew Luck out of the water in his rookie year.

It's easier to be more efficient when you only throw the ball 393 times in an entire season and you have a 1600 yard back behind you. Of course Luck had a lower completion percentage, he threw the ball almost twice as much as RG3 and his back only had 814 rushing yards. He was asked to do a lot more than RG3 was and he still won.

I factor in degree of difficulty here, not just numbers. RG3 had a lot more talent around him than Luck did and he still didn't win as many games.

My vote would go to Luck.

How the hell did this turn into a ROTY conversation?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Luck also came into a team that had far less talent and was asked to do more. They had, and have yet to develop a running game. Only two of their receivers weren't rookies, and only one had had significant playing time in the past. They had one of the worst offensive lines in the league. He threw the ball 627 times, Griffin by comparison threw it 393. He was 25th in the league in pass attempts. He didn't have to do as much, thus limiting his chances at mistakes. Luck does have a neckbeard and he sounds funny though.

Yeah, Parker though, the guy has a long history of stupid shit. He has falsely reported things multiple times in the past. He asks inappropriate questions. He accused Griffin being a Republican

 

[Nate DaMac]

Yeah, Parker though, the guy has a long history of stupid shit. He has falsely reported things multiple times in the past. He asks inappropriate questions. He accused Griffin being a Republican

The one where he asked the coach if he wished his daughter had married a better offensive coordinator or whatever? I think that was kind of blown out of proportion. Sure it was a bad time to ask something like that, but you could tell he was just trying to be funny. People are too sensitive.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

The one where he asked the coach if he wished his daughter had married a better offensive coordinator or whatever? I think that was kind of blown out of proportion. Sure it was a bad time to ask something like that, but you could tell he was just trying to be funny. People are too sensitive.

I think it was blown out of proportion, but given his personal history and the timing, the Lions had just managed to go 0-16, he probably shouldn't have asked it.

 

[Megatron]

Parker's just a flat out moron. Not because of this specific story, mind you, but for countless amount of bullshit he's tried to fly in the past. There's that Lions story, then there also was one back in around fall of 2008. There was a fight in MSU dorms between some football players and I believe hockey and Parker was trying to report that QB Kirk Cousins, a good Christian boy who was about the last person you'd ever expect to start a fight given his character was involved in the fight. Problem for Parker was that Cousins was with his father at the time at church, throwing more egg on Parker's face. After that story I tend to zone out whenever the guy appears on TV because while Skip and SAS seem to be talking out of their ass simply for viewers Parker probably is as legitimately stupid as he comes off talking.