Colts: Lamey Quickly Retired After Admitting Use Of Racial Slur

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Less than three days after the Indianapolis Colts announced longtime play-by-play announcer Bob Lamey was retiring, a radio employee is accusing the "Voice of the Colts" of using a racial slur off the air last week, and now reports are saying Lamey's retirement was prompt. WTHR reported the accusation was made by an unidentified female Emmis Communications employee who claims Lamey used the "N-word" while telling a story after a radio interview last Tuesday at Colts Camp. According to the news report, she emailed Emmis Communications human resources department, and told WTHR human resources then contacted the Colts, Lamey's employer.

According to WTHR, multiple sources told the news source the Colts approached Lamey about the accusation the day before they announced his retirement. IndyStar reported Wednesday morning the team meant "promptly retired," saying the statement made below was an autocorrect mistake, in a statement made by Team COO Pete Ward, to IndyStar:

"First and foremost, the Colts deplore and do not tolerate the use of any racial slur – in any context. While it’s our long-standing company policy not to make public comments on personnel matters, Bob publicly acknowledged that last week he repeated an inappropriate word when telling a story. He immediately apologized to the people who heard him use the word, and then promptly resigned.

"Bob has a long and storied history in our community, but he made a serious mistake. We are deeply disappointed the incident took place and offer our sincerest regrets to all who were impacted by Bob’s lapse in judgement."

"He was like, 'Oh I'm so so sorry. I'm so sorry if you're offended by this. I didn't mean to offend anyone' and I was like 'I'm black and I wouldn't ever say that word' and sort of just told him how it hurt me and how I don't think he should say it ever, even if he's telling a story," the radio employee told WTHR. "Then once he saw my face and realized he had messed up he had started really like profusely apologizing saying 'Please don't tell anybody.'" (Get Indianapolis Patch's daily newsletter and real-time news alerts. Or, find your local Patch here and subscribe. Like Indianapolis Patch on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

>> Read Indianapolis attorney Jim Voyles' statement regarding his client

Lamey would have been going into his 32nd season as the team's play-by-play announcer.

Patch will continue updating this story as information becomes available.

Photo via Patch archive / Tim Moran