MILWAUKEE -- Former Green Bay Packer star Max McGee, a commentator on Packer radio broadcasts, has apologized for a remark he made about Minnesota Vikings running back Herschel Walker that some listeners felt had racial overtones.
WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee, the originating station for Packer broadcasts, said it received two calls about the comment McGee made Sunday during the Packers' 24-10 victory over the Vikings in Milwaukee.
He apologized for the comment on a radio call-in show Monday night on the station.
During the game McGee, now a Minneapolis investor, said Walker, while running, 'looks like he's just stole a watermelon headin' south.'
McGee, who attended Tulane University in New Orleans, said he could not understand why anyone would consider the comment a racial putdown.
'I'm an old southern boy. I used to steal watermelons when I was a kid. I grew up in the south. I grew up with somebody saying, 'You carry the ball like a watermelon,'' he said.
Although he said he did not mean it in a derogatory way he wanted to apologize 'if I offended anyone. I would say that to Herschel Walker. If he's insulted, I feel bad about it.'
McGee, who starred in the first Super Bowl which the Packers won, said he was just reacting to the way Walker was carrying the ball.
