More information was leaked late yesterday regarding an investigation into the workplace culture of the NFL’s Washington Football Team, this time involving ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter. The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that Schefter sent Washington Football Team President Bruce Allen a draft of a story about the NFL lockout for him to scrutinize before filing it to ESPN, referring to Allen as “Mr. Editor” in the correspondence.
On Wednesday morning, BMitch & Finlay gave their perspective on the news while on the air at 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., saying that Schefter’s actions were a part of common journalistic practice; that is, confirming details with or sending copies of stories to sources prior to publishing.
“Do people think that doesn’t happen often?,” questioned Brian Mitchell, a former NFL running back and return specialist. “You don’t want to say something wrong because the person that is your source is trusting you to do it right. Adam Schefter gets so many stories [that] I have to believe [Allen] is not the only person he’s done that with. As long as this story didn’t have some topless pictures or some other stuff, I don’t see anything that can affect Adam.”
As the Washington Football Team insider at NBC Sports Washington and co-host of BMitch & Finlay, JP Finlay was able to relate to Schefter in terms of the process of reporting and drafting a story. Finlay expressed that he has found himself in similar situations at his job, and looks at the situation as the beginning of what could be a profusion of information being leaked out to the media.
“It feels a little bit like we are at the tip of the iceberg with this Washington Football Team investigation,” said Finlay. “I want all the information. Everybody wants all the information. Now that these emails are leaking out, a lot of folks are clinging to this hope that something will be in there that will force Dan Snyder to sell the team.”
Schefter, who has been with ESPN as an NFL reporter since 2009, appeared for a weekly segment on “The John Kincade Show” on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia, Pa., and explained his perspective when it comes to communicating with sources in trying to formulate a story.
“I’ve learned for a long time in this business not to discuss sources, or the process, or how stories are done,” Schefter expressed on Wednesday morning. “But I would just say that it’s a common practice to run information past sources. And in this particular case, during a labor-intensive lockout that was a complicated subject that was new to understand, I took the extra rare step to run information past one of the people that I was talking to. It was an important story to fans [, and] a host of others, and that’s the situation.”
On 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., Brian Mitchell and JP Finlay proceeded to speak about the implications releasing all of the information could have on the National Football League, and on the media coverage of the entire story. Jon Gruden, who had been serving as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, resigned from his position Monday after The New York Times reported that he had sent emails while employed by ESPN as an NFL. analyst containing misogynistic, homophobic and racist language.
“People have to understand those who would make Dan Snyder sell the team are those who are in possession of those 665,000 emails,” said Mitchell. “The information that came out from Friday until yesterday is probably being leaked by someone in the NFL office in New York. This is not somebody just, out of the blue, leaking stuff.”
Mitchell cautioned the National Football League in selectively choosing which emails to leak out, and which ones to withhold, saying that it could result in litigation on behalf of affected parties, including the National Football League Players Association, whose executive director, DeMaurice Smith, is a former Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C.
“The NFL is trying to protect [itself] more than [it’s] trying to protect Dan Snyder or anybody else,” said Mitchell. “That man that’s running the NFLPA — he’s a prosecutor. That’s what he’s been doing all his life. He’s a fighter; He knows how to litigate. He has propositioned [sic] the NFL. His next move won’t be asking the question again. His next move will be [obtaining] legal documents coming after you.”
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