Bryan Broaddus, who works as a reporter for the Dallas Cowboys and hosts a radio show in Dallas, has apologized for comments he made earlier in the week, regarding the health of San Francisco 49ers running back, Christian McCaffrey.
The 49ers will host the Cowboys in an NFC Divisional Round matchup on Sunday in a rematch of an exciting playoff game from last season and a renewal of one of the NFL’s most storied rivalries. Broaddus and co-host Gavin Dawson were analyzing the game on GBag Nation, a show on 105.3 in Dallas. McCaffrey’s name was mentioned and the conversation quickly turned toward his injury-prone past.
“(The) McCaffrey trade is paying dividends. He’s made it unfair. You know. He took them from…” Dawson said (H/T Twitter user, Franco) before Broaddus interrupted him.
“He’s healthy now,” Broaddus said. “In Carolina he couldn’t stay healthy. Now he never gets hurt.”
“We could use an injury. We really could,” Dawson added.
“Hamstring would be good,” Broaddus said.
https://twitter.com/list3nman/status/1615499925101416449
Broaddus was called out on Twitter for the comments. On Thursday, he attempted to clarify them.
First, he said “Player has a history of not being healthy or available for his team. He’s done a great job of taking care of that while in SF. Would never wish that on any player. I worked in this league way too long for that.”
Broaddus later said, “It’s a fact. He misses games due to injury. It’s part of his entire career. It’s one of the reasons that CAR moved on. He’s a great player that’s finally healthy.”
When pressed about the issue of saying an injury, specifically a hamstring injury, would be good, he apologized, saying “I am sorry this even happened. Not my intent. My hope it’s a great game.”
I am sorry this even happened. Not my intent. My hope it’s a great game.
— BryanBroaddus (@BryanBroaddus) January 19, 2023
RJ Choppy, another host on 105.3, defended Broaddus and Dawson, saying that the comments were “clear sarcasm.”
“I would say I’m surprised that people are unable to pick up on the clear sarcasm of @gavindawson @BryanBroaddus here… But I’m not. Somewhere we lost the ability to know what irreverence sounds like.”
I would say I'm surprised that people are unable to pick up on the clear sarcasm of @gavindawson @BryanBroaddus here… But I'm not. Somewhere we lost the ability to know what irreverence sounds like https://t.co/VlY7vwP1oi
— RJ Choppy (@rjchoppy) January 19, 2023
Broaddus and Dawson’s detailing McCaffrey’s injury history is completely fair game. It would be no different than Bay Area radio hosts talking about Brett Maher’s PAT woes. For whatever reason, injuries haven’t been a huge issue this season for McCaffrey. The injuries he’s sustained haven’t been enough to sideline him. Including the playoffs, he’s played 18 games between the Carolina Panthers and 49ers. But after playing a combined 10 games over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, they’re fair to mention.
“We could use an injury” and “hamstring would be good,” however, are harder to defend. That doesn’t mean that either host genuinely wishes injury on McCaffrey. Broaddus and Dawson sounded like they were being sarcastic. Truthfully, one probably wouldn’t need to look too far to find fans of any team saying something along these lines about a start player of an upcoming opponent, particularly in the playoffs.
But these weren’t two fans in a bar. These were two people saying it on a radio show in a major market. They need to be more careful with the words they say.
[Franco on Twitter]
