Lamar Thomas FIRED!!!

[TyBull]

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Published Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Analyst Fired After Making Brawl Comments

By TIM REYNOLDS

The Associated Press

MIAMI -- Former Miami player Lamar Thomas lost his TV analyst job Monday over comments he made during a sideline-clearing brawl involving the Hurricanes and Florida International.

Comcast Sports SouthEast, a regional cable network that hired Thomas before the season, also decided to edit out his comments before the game is replayed later this week.

"We were disappointed in the incident that happened on the field and regret the way it was handled in the broadcast booth," CSS general manager Mark Fuhrman said. "We do not support or condone the inappropriate comments made by color analyst Lamar Thomas and have taken the necessary steps to prevent a similar situation from ever occurring again."

CSS, which is available in 5.5 million homes, will replay the game twice Wednesday.

Thomas made his comments as dozens of Miami and FIU players stormed the Orange Bowl field and fought during the third quarter of their teams' game Saturday night, an incident that led to the suspension of at least 31 players and forced officials from both schools to publicly apologize for the melee.

"Now, that's what I'm talking about," Thomas said as the brawl raged out of control. "You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the OB playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing."

Miami and Florida International have campuses 9 miles apart in Miami-Dade County. It was the first meeting between the two programs, and the Hurricanes went on to win 35-0.

As the fight slowed, Thomas' comments continued.

"I say, why don't they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby," Thomas said. "We've had a down couple years but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house."

A tape of the fight, including Thomas' comments, was available on the Internet on Sunday and Monday. The game was available for viewing Saturday night on a pay-per-view basis.

Thomas was a third-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1993 and spent six seasons in the NFL, three with the Bucs and three with the Miami Dolphins.

Fuhrman said CSS consulted with Miami officials before determining what action needed to be taken. Miami recommends on-air personnel for its broadcasts, Fuhrman said.

[E.T.]

Thomas: Love of UM led to his comments

By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer

Published October 19, 2006

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TAMPA - Lamar Thomas wants you to know he is sorry. He crossed the line. He spoke from his heart, not his head.

Two days after being fired for comments made on television during a brawl between Miami and Florida International on Saturday at the Orange Bowl, Thomas, speaking from his home in Tampa, admitted he used poor judgment.

"I made a mistake," Thomas, 36, said. "I let my personal emotions take over. I'm a freak for the University of Miami. I love that school for all it has done for me. Unfortunately, I wish none of this had happened. And I should've been fired."

A total of 31 players from Miami and FIU were suspended after a brawl broke out during the Hurricanes' victory. While doing analysis for Comcast Sports Southeast, Thomas, who played for Miami in the early 1990s and spent three seasons with the Bucs, told viewers, among other things, "You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the Orange Bowl playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city over there. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt kicked. I was about to do down the elevator and get into that thing."

Thomas said Miami is being overly criticized because of things that happened when Thomas played there.

"People love to hate Miami because we won a lot and we were brash about it," Thomas said. "We were very cocky. Downright dirty, sometimes. These kids got railroaded for what we did."

Thomas said he believes he was in the wrong, even though he had been told in recent weeks to be more "pro UM" on the broadcasts. However, he was disappointed with comments from former Hurricanes player Michael Irvin, who said on ESPN that Thomas should be fired.

Thomas said that when Irvin was charged with a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia in 2005, he publicly said Irvin should not be fired by ESPN.

"I said then that everyone deserves second chances and, at worst, he should be suspended," Thomas said.

Thomas said he can now move on without looking back.

"I've already apologized, so what else can I do?" Thomas said. "I can't do anything more. I'm sorry. I'll be fine. It's not like I'm dead. This is like a storm. Right now, I'm in the storm. But the storm will pass or move on to someone else and I'll be fine."

[DawgPound]

He's rare.  Most are just bandwagon fans.

[BoozedUpBull]

He should have joined in the fight.  Then he would have only received a 1 game suspension.  

Instead, he talked about the fight and got fired for it.  Ridiculous!

[JoeB]

I'm surprised he was hired in the first place.  I heard/watched the spring game and he was horrible.  Did not add anything to the commentary.

[bulls96go]

too bad poor judgement, hope he gets a second chance somewhere else