Redskins Wide Receiver Criticizes Sports Media’s Intentions

A top NFL wide receiver recently criticized the national sports media, questioning what the goals of the media really are.

Pierre Garcon, a wide receiver for the Washington Redskins, appeared recently on the SirisXM NFL Radio program, “The Opening Drive on Tuesday,” and was asked about Robert Griffin III, the teams starting quarterback, and the reports that came out from ESPN last week regarding his leadership in the team locker room.

Garcon was very adamant in backing up his quarterback, saying: “He’s the team quarterback. Everybody loves him here. He’s definitely a great guy, he’s a fun guy…but he’s definitely our team leader, he’s definitely our quarterback, he’s definitely a great player.”

After hearing this, the host of the program asked about how rumors like this get out to the media. Garcon’s response was outlined by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post:

“You know, there’s media people in our locker room, they want to make national headlines instead of report things that’s really going on,” Garcon said. “But I’m there every day. I see it. Guys are working hard, guys are playing towards one goal, trying to make the team win. But media are trying to make news instead of reporting [anything] that’s going on in our locker room, which is every day we just try to stay on our normal [routine], giving [the media] as less as possible. So they try to make up news to make theirselves more important than what they really are.”

Garçon’s comments are a fresh example of an ongoing issue in sports journalism, in which some players in prominent sports display disdain or distrust for the media and their claimed goals.

Pierre Garcon is not the only player who seems to have a recent problem with the media. Marshawn Lynch, running back for the Seattle Seahawks, makes no secret of his dislike of the media, and largely hates talking to them. His constant refusal has even gotten him into trouble as of late with the NFL.

The ethical issues surrounding today’s sports journalism will be the subject of the Center for Journalism Ethics’ upcoming annual conference.  More information about Fair or Foul: Ethics in Sports Journalism, to be held April 10, 2015 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, can be found here.