INDIANAPOLIS — An off-the-air racial slur prompted the immediate retirement of longtime Indianapolis Colts’ radio voice Bob Lamey last weekend, team officials and Lamey’s attorney confirmed Wednesday.

Local attorney James Voyles issued a statement acknowledging Lamey used “inappropriate” language during a conversation with a friend at a local radio station and apologized immediately.

“Bob does want to acknowledge that while repeating a story while off-the-air last week to a friend at a local radio station, he used an inappropriate word that had been used in the story,” Voyles’ statement read. “Bob immediately apologized to the people involved for the comment and would hope that this error in judgment would not tarnish his long-held reputation in the sports community where he has been known as an accurate and passionate reporter.”

A report on a local television station’s website, WTHR.com, claimed an employee at Emmis Communications heard the comment and reported it to the radio station’s human resources department, which then contacted the Colts.