Pundit Rob Parker talked with ESPN

TV pundit Rob Parker, after making controversial comments on race in relation to Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, is gone from ESPN.

Parker, who is African American, made those comments on the morning talk show First Take, about Griffin, who is also African American, possibly being a "cornball brother" who is " not really down with the cause."

Says ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys, in a statement: "Rob Parker's contract expired at year's end. Evaluating his work and our needs, including his recent RGIII comments, we decided not to renew his deal."

ESPN had no further comment.

Says ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys, in a statement: "Rob Parker's contract expired at year's end. Evaluating his work and our needs, including his recent RGIII comments, we decided not to renew his deal."

Parker, who had already been suspended for 30 days, suggests in this interview with a Detroit TV station that in an ESPN First Take production meeting his basic points about Griffin were understood to be the "way they were going" on the show and his comments weren't just "off-the-cuff."

Rob Parker (born January 10, 1964) is an American sports columnist with ClickOnDetroit.com and a regular commentator on WDIV-TV Local 4 Sports Final Edition. Parker was previously employed by ESPN since 2003, but he was suspended for controversial comments he had made on air and his contract was not renewed at the end of 2012.

Parker received a B.S. in journalism from Southern Connecticut State University and a Masters in journalism from Columbia University.

He was the first black sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press in 1993 and Newsday in New York in 1995. Before becoming the second black sports columnist at The Detroit News after Terry Foster in 1999, Parker was also a reporter for The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Daily News in New York and The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Parker was the first-ever host on the WDFN sports radio station in Detroit in 1994.He subsequently hosted the sports-talk radio show, “Parker and The Man’’ with Mark Wilson for a decade on various stations. Parker also had a show on ESPN radio in New York.

He has worked at WDIV-TV in Detroit since 1993. Parker was hired on at ESPN in 2003. He was a regular on ESPN's First Take, where he debated controversial sports topics with Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. He also appeared on ESPN's Numbers Never Lie with Michael Smith. Parker also hosted a TV show called "Sports Rap" on WADL in Detroit with Detroit Lions safety Ron Rice.