You won't hear Michael Felger on NBC Boston for a while.
The station, in a press release, announced that Felger has been suspended through Sunday as a result of insensitive comments about the deaths of baseball superstar Roy Hallady and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr.
A statement from NBC Sports Boston on Michael Felger... pic.twitter.com/HsEfaM31QM
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) November 10, 2017
The station's action came after Felger apologized for his remarks.
Felger made the comments on The Sports Hub radio show, but he also appears on NBC Sports Boston programs.
Felger went on a vile rant about the death of baseball superstar Roy Halladay, and then decided to add in an equally heartless take on the death of Dale Sr. He said, as can be heard in the video above at about the 11 minute mark:
"Was it Dale Earnhardt who died? The race car driver who died? I root for the wall. I really do. That ain't no tragedy ... I'm supposed to feel bad for you? Give me a break. Oh God," he said.
But he struck a much different tone (mostly) when he apologized. When speaking of Dale Sr., he said, "There was a bad line I had yesterday about rooting for the wall against Dale Earnhardt. I know what NASCAR means to a lot of people; a lot of people on our TV side what it means it them. That was dumb hyperbole on my part."
He also said, "In a nutshell, I would say that I feel bad about what happened on a lot of levels. I feel bad about what I said and how I conducted myself."
And he saved his most direct apology for the person who was the object of most of his rant.
"I could come in and say 'I apologize if I offended anyone,' but that's fake and hollow and everyone hates that, don't you? Isn't that the worst, when someone comes in and says that? Besides, the only folks that I would really want to extend that to are the loved ones of Halladay," he said. "They're the ones dealing with enough right now, not to have to have me come over the top and do what I did yesterday. So, sorry doesn't do that justice as it relates to them. That one's gonna stick with me for a while."
Felger added, "There is stuff that I did mean," though he wasn't specific. "The hyperbole was just low-class, bad, not good. I don't feel good about it."
Felger apologizes https://t.co/a1QgubOlDJ
— Marina Maher (@marinakmaher) November 9, 2017
Jut a day earlier, on the radio show Felger and Mazz, Felger went on a long rant about Halladay, the two-time Cy Young Award winner (and likely Hall of Famer) who died at the age of 40 when the plane he was flying crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Among his takes:
- He called Halladay an idiot and moron several times
- He ranted about how Halladay's death make him angry
- He mocked Halladay throughout the rant, yelling "WEEEEEEEEE," and them mentioning he went "splat."
- "If I die helicopter skiing, you have the right to do the exact same thing I'm doing to Roy Halladay. He got what he deserved."
- He said, "he got what he deserved" and it sounded as if he was clapping
Now, he's trying to make amends, but this will sting for some people for a very long time.