After Telecast, Snyder Says He Was Right

Fifteen months ago, CBS fired Jimmy (the Greek) Snyder after he told a Washington television station that blacks were bred to be better athletes than whites. Tuesday night, NBC showed a one-hour special that cited studies indicating that blacks have a natural advantage in sports.

“I got fired for saying that and now they’re doing specials on it,” Snyder said Wednesday. “You figure it out.”

NBC’s “Black Athletes--Fact and Fiction” didn’t generate as much controversy as Snyder’s remarks. But the network did receive more than 300 phone calls about the program, and most were critical.

The show received an 11.1 rating, second in its time period.

Snyder, the oddsmaker on “The NFL Today” for 12 years, said he wanted to do a similar special at CBS but was not allowed.

“They were afraid of it,” he said in a telephone interview from Miami Beach, Fla. “They thought it would open up a can of worms.”

Despite the uproar over his remarks, Snyder said he’s not afraid to speak out again.

“All my life I’ve said exactly what I was thinking,” he said. “What I said was right. Maybe I didn’t say it the right way, but it was true.”