ESPN Does Not Care About Covering the Latest NFL Studies and Scandals
Safe to say I will not be getting a job offer from ESPN or NFL Media after this one
Mass General Brigham released a study this morning that found NFL Players to be four times more likely to die due to Neurodegenerative Disease.
Pro Football Talk wrote about it.
USA Today wrote about it.
Boston University wrote about it.
The Desert News wrote about it (Whoever the hell they are).
You know who hasn’t yet?
The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” aka ESPN.
We saw this coming. Ever since ESPN sold a 10% stake to the NFL in exchange for NFL Media, their coverage on the league has been significantly filtered.
ESPN’s reporting on the Mike Vrabel/Dianna Russini scandal has been minimal. Other than one article in April that just stated the timeline, their posts have been short, bulletin style pieces with quick facts about Vrabel’s availability or Russini resigning.
ESPN wasn’t, and isn’t, always like this.
Former Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore’s affair has been covered extensively by the Disney owned outlet.
In 2016 ESPN extensively covered the NFL’s part in brain damage to football players.
As recently as mid January ESPN published a story, reporting on a Harvard study that found former NFL player suicide rates rose between 2011 and 2019.
Everything changed a few weeks later when the NFL acquired 10% of ESPN. Since then, the only ESPN articles on NFL related mental and traumatic brain injuries have been about specific players who made comments, were diagnosed, or passed away.
There’s no hard hitting journalism pieces that ESPN was once known for.
You know what ESPN does have? A June 9th article about five different law firms accused of defrauding the NFL’s concussion fund. In other words, a piece where the NFL is the victim.
If ESPN ever does report on the latest study, it’ll be a piece that either states the claim with no deeper analysis, or an attempt to debunk the findings. ESPN has transitioned from being one of the agents keeping the NFL in check, to the league’s personal PR machine.
The good news is that there are more independent journalists and outlets than ever before. Tony Farmer will give you every angle of the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini scandal. Awful Announcing reports on, and criticizes, the business side of sports better than anybody.
There are also other outlets with mechanisms that keep them honest. Pro Football Talk belongs to Mike Florio as much as NBC, for instance. At Barstool the conflicts are disclosed (Portnoy’s a Patriots fan. Big Cat’s a Bears fan). Pablo Torre’s brand is deep diving journalism.
Seattle Mike’s gonna give you stuff like what you just read. So, obviously he’s the best one.
-Written by Seattle Mike