Once again, my media brethren fell into the trap of making a big deal out of covering a guy who doesn't want to be covered.
In this case, I'm talking about Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch, a good player who has a bad attitude.
Lynch has had a couple of run ins with the law during his career - carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and, worse, a hit-and-run. He's not a particularly smart guy.
But in this case, he outfoxed the media.
Lynch doesn't want to fulfill his contract and talk to the media. He's been fined for his ducking of his duties by the NFL.
But Tuesday at media day, a number of the morons who attend that event - and believe me, it's a circus, not a media event - made a point of peppering Lynch with questions at his podium.
He gave the same stock answer to every question, as he has done all season - "I'm here so I don't get fined."
Great. But he also did so with a bad of candy that he has become associated with and while wearing his own brand of clothing.
Had the media paid no attention to him, nobody would have noticed the candy or his hat. Instead, Lynch got the publicity both of those companies wanted - for doing nothing.
Here's a better idea. Nobody cares what this moron has to say. And if nobody pays attention to him, the endorsements will dry up. Companies want their product out in front. If nobody pays attention to Lynch, that doesn't happen.
Lynch also has lashed out at the NFL for coming down on him with fines for not talking and other incidents. Here's an idea, Marshawn, quit.
Nobody is forcing you to play in the NFL. You are doing so because you are being well compensated to do so. And part of that compensation is to play under the rules set forth by the NFL - one of which is to make yourself available to the media. It's in the contract that YOU signed.
But I could care less if Lynch speaks or doesn't speak. I wouldn't talk to him anyway. There have been Steelers in the past to whom I did not speak. They made it obvious that they didn't want to talk to me - or anyone else. So I didn't talk to them.
It only hurt them because they didn't get any stories written about them. I once turned down a large sum of money from a national magazine in 1995 to write a story after the Super Bowl about a member of the Steelers because I didn't talk to him.
Instead, they asked me to write a story about Bill Cowher.
And guess what? When that player now comes back to Pittsburgh for Steelers events, he can't wait to talk to the media. He's as nice about it as can be. It's almost like he's begging to be relevant again.
But those days have passed. Marshawn Lynch will learn that soon enough.
That's my rant for the day. I don't expect some people to understand it. And this isn't a member of the media "crying" because a player doesn't want to talk to me. As stated, if they don't want to talk to me, fine. But they shouldn't get angry because there are repercussions.
17 comments:
Sounds like the media crying to me. Journalists crucify players should they say one wrong word and then are shocked when a guy doens't want to talk to the media? I guess a regular joe like me can't understand.
I'm glad that Lynch flaunts the rules of all the BS the League puts players through. He's a great ball player. I could care less about his inane contract stipulations.
"I could care less"
So you so DO care then?
If you don't like the contract stipulations (that everybody else has to follow too in order to get paid) then don't sign the contract.
But don't think you're above everybody else and that you should get special treatment via special exceptions because well, dammit ... you're Marshawn Lynch!
The world doesn't work that way. He should have learned that in grammar school.
So who's the ex Steeler in question? Greg Lloyd?
I have a better idea ... the media and the NFL should get off the man's jock. When I tune into FOX on Sundays, it's because I want to watch Beast Mode embarrassing some NFL defenders, not because Dale Lolley or anyone else wrote a story about him.
If you can't get any response from him, move the hell on to someone who can't shut up. There's no shortage of those guys.
Lynch isn't acting like a child, he's acting like a grown ass man that gets to decide if he wants to talk or not. It's the media that act like they need a diaper change.
The NFL tries to force guys like Lynch to talk, and then fine them when they don't like what they say. Give him a script to read, or leave him the hell alone.
As I understand it and by no means am I in Lynch's camp. But I heard that the guys isn't real good at speaking and when he did so in the past, the media made fun of him.
I once saw an interview with him during his rookie camp and it clear that the man gets very nervous in front of the camera and isn't very articulate.. I for one think it's BS that everyone is MADE to speak in front of the media, therit job is to play football and let the guys that love the attention answer all the questions if they want.
I'm one of a million people that gets horrified speaking infront of a crowd, if I played pro, I would have a hard time speaking infront of everyone and would come across very uneducated.
Put it this way, anonymous, if you failed to live up to part of your job and were then fined for it, would you complain? That's what Lynch is doing.
The only reason I "care" about it this week is because the whole week is being spent talking about Lynch not talking. It's bs.
Greg Lloyd was, in fact, one of the guys. Chad Scott was another.
As I said, if the guy doesn't want to talk to me I DON'T talk to him. Wish others in the media would do the same. Lynch would realize what he's missing when his endorsement deals dry up.
I've spoken with plenty of guys over the years who had problems speaking in front of cameras. They get used to it. Some are now working in the media.
I'm pretty neutral here, mainly because like you said, why cares what Marshawn Thuggin has to say anyways.
But just wondering if you knew when this rule started coming into place that they need to talk to media?
I feel like there were prob some mean guys in the 60's & 70's that never said a word to a reporter, even tho they were icons on the field.
Lynch has gone on record, probably more than once, why he doesn't talk to the media. It has nothing to do with him being "a moron" or "a criminal", but kudos on the stereotyping.
Google is your friend. You can find out the real reason he isn't keen on dealing with the media in about 10 seconds if you're so inclined.
His only real misstep about the whole ordeal, in my mind, is that he just doesn't eat the fines and skip the sessions. He can totally afford it, so he COULD avoid doing it. I understand he doesn't want to do that, at least in part, on principle since it's a silly rule to force players to have to talk to the media "or else." The whole "that pays their salary!!!" argument doesn't pan. For every guy like Lynch, who doesn't want to do it, there's probably 20 other guys on the team that live their lives as attention whores. Go talk to them. Advertisers aren't going to stop advertising if a third of the players on each team don't talk to the press. They probably wouldn't stop advertising if the entirety of the league stopped talking. They just aren't. NFL is a cash cow, and it's not because of weekly media days.
The media like to complain about Lynch, bu the reality is they WANT Lynch to keep "not talking." It gives them a layup topic to write about any given week that Lynch is involved in a game. How many media types were at Danny Amendola's podium for him to tell them "You just have to leave it all on the field, take it one play at a time, keep your nose to the grindstone, etc, etc, etc." I'll wager it was probably single digits. How many were at Lynch's podium again?
If the NFL wants to force the players to be available to the press weekly, it should also force Roger Goodell/Aiello/et al to do the same. If Goodell had to answer the exact. same. freaking. questions. 1,000 times, you'd be getting his equivalent of "I'm just here so I don't get fined, boss" in about a month and a half.
as stated above, the media actually loves it when lynch "doesn't talk" makes a ridiculous story for them they keep talking about.
the league gets exposure too, so in many ways they like it also.
we all complain about parts of our job, i have no problem with players not wanting to talk to the media, or complaining about it.
pretty much none of us would care what steelers have to say on media day, certainly don't care what lynch has to say, or not say.
if you really want to get elbow deep into it, the whole thing boils down to one of the founding principles of this country - freedom of speech and expression.
no employer is legally permitted to force you to say something or nothing to the media. it violates your constitutional rights. however, the nfl (and other sports leagues) operate outside of certain federal laws which basically means their CBA dictates the rules.
well, if the CBA doesn't jive with constitutional rights, what are you to do? I personally believe lynch has every right to ignore the media if he so chooses and anything stating otherwise is illegal. BUT, that has never been challenged in court (or to the national labor relations board) which means contractually, lynch must fulfill his obligations or will suffer punishment.
did he sign a contract - yes. must he follow the contract - no. people break contracts all the time. the only reason the contract is their is to provide legal footing in case it gets broken to outline the ramifications. However, if it ever gets determined that it is illegal to force these guys to speak to media, then the contracts themselves are voided since any contract promoting illegal activities is deemed useless.
this is just another PR misstep by the NFL. the two biggest stories are now deflategate and lynch being stubborn. morons.
I support Lynch ignoring the media but this isn't a constitutional issue. Lynch does have the right to freedom of speech but he doesn't have a constitutional guarantee to his job. The NFL is within it's rights to fine him or fire him for what he says or doesn't say according to his contract.
Freedom of speech is designed to protect against GOVERNMENT oppression of ideas.
I still think the NFL is really idiotic in their enforcement of this whole thing. It makes them look horrible. Besides I'd rather listen to Lynch make jokes to avoid the media than listen to the BS canned responses that other guys give. The whole thing is a farce.
I can see if Lynch was quiet and just didn't feel comfortable talking to the media. This guy is just idiot who is begging for attention. He is going to wish he didn't have to pay all these fines a few years down the road. Just ignore him and he will start talking.
It should be pointed out that Lynch isn't contractually required to answer questions, only to make himself available. Answering every question with the same answer fulfills the requirements of his contract. It's also interesting to note the stereotyping being employed by his detractors in this thread.
So it's a "stereotype" to call a guy a moron? Who knew?
I cover athletes of all races, religions and those who are different in every way possible. Also have many friends who are different races, religions, etc. I don't see color or differences. But I will call a moron a moron. You're barking up the wrong tree with that.
So why exactly is he a moron and a criminal again, Dale? Some of us could be a little moronic ourselves and have difficulty distinguishing between obvious unintelligent/offensive behavior and a guy peacefully protesting a moronic rule, then making an intelligent decision to at least profit from it. And while you're at it, and this is for anyone commenting, many black people have become very aware of when others use the word, "thug," but rather than jump to conclusions, I'd rather ask, what exactly is a thug?
I'd like to see the actual contract language the media keeps referring to.
Does the contract state he has to be "available" to the media or does it say "talk" to the media. Two different things.
If any player refuses to answer a question, even the "no comment" quotes, are they in violation of their contract?
This is turning into another Deflategate. Lots of assumptions, not a lot of facts.
Since Goodell said 'available to the media' 3 times in his address yesterday, I assume that is how the league skirts the 1st Amendment issues with that requirement. They can't legally make the players talk. It's silly. And a one-eighty from the protocal the league has with the officials. Walt Anderson could clear up some of the confusion surrounding Deflategate if the league didn't have restrictions on game officials talking to the media. Hypocrit much, Rog?
Personally I have no problem whatsoever if a player choses to loophole his contract. (Much like I don't have a problem with Belichick's loophole formations, or how teams use to rollover cap money thru incentives). Spirit v Letter of Law debate.
The league makes a ton of money off the players, and their likeness, etc. The rule requiring players to be available to the media is another way to promote the league for free. Free marketing, free advertizing everytime a story is written, an interview is aired. If the league wasn't monetarily benefiting from forcing the players and media together, they wouldn't require it. Eff the league. And the media, for that matter. How many webclicks/newspapers has Lynch sold by not talking to the media this week. Screw the crybabies. They're making money either way.
What would be entertaining to me would be to see every player in the league do this for a week, or a season.
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