Putting on pants presents a complex yet beautiful wonder.
For some, their pants are thrifted, knock-off, hand-me-downs, or generic. For others, their pants are worn once, high quality, high cost, or a top-tier name brand. Despite the nature of the pants, however, a common denominator remains.
The man with the name brand and the man with the generic has to put on his pants one foot at a time. Journalists don’t realize this and think that because athletes have money, they can treat them in any manner.
During Super Bowl media week, my blood boiled and my head spun not only at those around me but even myself at times, falling into this deceptive pit that keeps us in bondage to a quote, forsaking the human nature these athletes embody.
The Athletic NFL Reporter Diana Russini believes gentleness is critical in ensuring player comfortability with the media. “When I speak to someone like Trent [Williams] for so many years, the dynamic is different,” Russini said. “But, when I speak to someone like Charvarius Ward, I approach him softly and genuinely.”
Reporters tend to bark at players until their bark proves more potent than the fellow peer working next to them. The player’s eye contact validates their right to speak. However, the journalist fails to validate the players’ human existence and dismisses manners for the sake of capturing a quote.
It’s not only refusing to say, “Good morning,” but sometimes seeming to have no regard for the athlete’s mental health when asking silly questions, such as, “Have you listened to Taylor Swift during pregame?”
Ward, a cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers, responded to the reporter, saying, “I don’t listen to her.”
Journalists must do a better job at understanding the consensus mental strain on athletes to hear about this one girl they don’t even know just for the sake of clicks.
Clicks grant the journalists more power over the athlete than one may think.
A little over a year ago, Niners rookie cornerback Darrel Luter Jr. caught interceptions for South Alabama. The fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft now desires to pick off one of the greatest quarterbacks on the grandest stage- Patrick Mahomes at the 2024 Super Bowl.
This is a stage that obviously comes with more scrutiny. He understands this; therefore, he acknowledges the pertinence of his budding legacy and how the media can malign it in a bigger market. Consequently, affecting a whole community.
“I came from a small to a big market,” Luter said. “Everyone is watching every move. So, this is not only about my job but my life is on the line. Coming from a smaller market, all these people look up to you, and you are eager to live up to the name on your back.”
It hit me. The hunger for a quote and a click can turn into an 800-word heavy-loaded gun that shoots an athlete’s life, leaving him paralyzed and unable to earn a second chance in an unforgiving world.
When a journalist realizes this, it’s no longer about selfish desire but rather a genuine intention to know the athlete. While other players claim to turn their cheek to articles and social media clips, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross admits he falls short and sometimes feels bothered by the content he views.
“A lot of false things are portrayed about players in the media,” Ross said. “And we [players] sometimes can’t say anything because then we might look even worse than how we are already portrayed.”
Niners cornerback Isaiah Oliver believes the lack of respect from the media may result from journalists not playing the sport they are reporting on. Sure, someone who does law can’t truly connect to the doctor doing heart surgery. But, where a profession separates relatability, a curiosity to learn about the respective person curates a common ground that focusing just on a profession won’t allow.
Russini says she isn’t caught up in sounding smart; rather, she accepts when she doesn’t know something or someone and asks the athlete to explain themselves further.
That’s humility!
Acting like you are right or a know-it-all will never reap the fruit that comes when admitting you are wrong or unaware.
The players now know that this individual is more than a quote leech but a student of the game who yearns to learn from an experienced teacher.
Just as some athletes are stat-chasers or stat-stuffers, the journalism industry is plagued with quote-chasers and quote-stuffers. The podium then becomes a kennel. Speaking over each other. Pushing shoulders. Side eyes. All for a quote. All to please the editor. All at the expense of relating to the athlete well.
