text: Posted by Michael David Smith on December 14, 2012, 10:19 AM EDT 
   
   ESPN has admitted that commentator Rob Parker crossed the line when he questioned whether Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is not really black because he has a white fiancee. But Parker doesn’t seem to think he did anything wrong. 
   
   After making those comments on Thursday morning, Parker was inundated with criticism on Twitter, and in his responses on Thursday afternoon, he generally acted as though he was the one who was owed an apology for anyone daring to question what he’d said. Parker called his critics, among other things, “uneducated” and “silly.” 
   
   But Parker suddenly stopped tweeting on Thursday, presumably because his bosses at ESPN told him to knock it off. After all, if the critics who were going after Parker on Twitter are uneducated and silly, doesn’t that mean the bosses at ESPN who said Parker’s comments were inappropriate are also uneducated and silly? 
   
   Before he went silent on Twitter, Parker also told critics to tune in to Friday’s First Take for more discussion of the matter. That’s right out of the First Take playbook: The show thrives on provoking controversy. But Friday’s First Take didn’t open with Parker or with any discussion of Griffin. Instead, the show simply ignored Parker’s comments and launched into an argument between panelists Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith about Sunday’s Steelers-Cowboys game. ||||| At a time when starting quarterbacks of color are hardly a rarity in the NFL, racial issues haven’t gone away. 
   
   On Thursday, ESPN’s Rob Parker questioned Robert Griffin III’s blackness on “First Take,” prompting DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association to tell the Post in an email: 
   
   “Robert can certainly take care of himself. Nonetheless, I hope that our men and for that matter, my own kids, will never beg for authenticity from someone who can only talk about the things that other people have the courage to do. People need to be held accountable for the offensive things that they say.” 
   
   It’s been that kind of a season, though. Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers was ripped when, suddenly, a columnist noticed that his arms are covered with tattoos. Former NFL quarterback Warren Moon suggested earlier this season that questions about the attitude of the Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton were racially motivated. Newton disagreed, saying, “When it comes to [racism], I don’t think there is any at all. 
   
   But the topic still keeps coming up. David Whitley began a Sporting News column this way: 
   
   San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick is going to be a big-time NFL quarterback. That must make the guys in San Quentin happy. Approximately 98.7 percent of the inmates at California’s state prison have tattoos. I don’t know that as fact, but I’ve watched enough “Lockup” to know it’s close to accurate. 
   
   Kaepernick’s mom, Teresa, told USA Today that it “annoyed” her. 
   
   “You are categorizing this kid on something like tattoos? Really? Saying other guys are role models because they don’t have them? Really?” Teresa Kaepernick said. “Some of these other guys don’t have crystal-clear reputations. That’s how you’re going to define this kid? It’s pretty irritating, but it is what it is.” 
   
   It’s also generalizing in a way that really isn’t helpful and makes it seem as if the days of Doug Williams being asked about being a black quarterback really aren’t so far behind us. 
   
   Follow @CindyBoren on Twitter and on Facebook. 
   
   More 
   
   ESPN spokesman says comments were “inappropriate” 
   
   “First Take” transcript | Video 
   
   RGIII: Post-racial superstar or The One? ||||| Commentator Rob Parker has been suspended by ESPN for comments made about Robert Griffin III. (Photo: ESPN) 
   
   ESPN commentator Rob Parker has been suspended indefinitely as a result of disparaging racial comments he made about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III on Thursday. 
   
   "Following yesterday's comments Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review," ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said. 
   
   OUTLOOK: RGIII comments miss the point again 
   
   DAD KNOWS BEST: Griffin II responds to comments on son 
   
   Parker said of Griffin on ESPN2's First Take: "Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother? ... He's not real. OK, he's black, he kind of does the 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 guy you want to hang out with because he's off to something else." 
   
   Robert Griffin II, Griffin's father, told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday, "I wouldn't say it's racism. I would just say some people put things out there about people so they can stir things up." 
   
   Parker, 48, has worked as a reporter and columnist for newspapers such as Newsday, the Detroit News and the Cincinnati Enquirer. According to his web site, he started at ESPN in 2003. 
   
   Parker gained notoriety in 2008 when, while he was a Detroit News columnist, he asked then-Lions coach Rod Marinelli about his daughter being married to the team's defensive coordinator. Parker asked Marinelli, whose team eventually finished the season winless, "Do you wish your daughter would have married a better defensive coordinator?" 
   
   Parker later resigned from the paper and apologized to Marinelli, who said he didn't accept the apology. 
   
   Best of Robert Griffin III in photos:
target: – ESPN has indefinitely suspended commentator Rob Parker after his controversial "cornball brother" remarks about Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III yesterday, the network announced in a brief statement today. "Following yesterday's comments, Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review," the network said, according to USA Today. Parker's comments, in which he said that Griffin was only "kind of black," set off a firestorm. The head of the NFL Players Association slammed Parker, telling the Washington Post that players should "never beg for authenticity from someone who can only talk about the things that other people have the courage to do." RGIII's father (who, yes, is named Robert Griffin II), chimed in as well, saying, "I wouldn't say it's racism. I would just say some people put things out there about people so they can stir things up." But Parker remained defiant on Twitter for much of yesterday, calling critical responses "uneducated" and "silly," NBC Sports reports.