NFL

Mainstream Media Apologizes to Mario Williams for Irresponsible Reporting

Posted Dec 12, 2007 9:09PM By Stephanie Stradley (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Texans, NFL Media Watch, Houston, ESPN

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Lately, journalists have criticized bloggers for being overly emotional and non-factual (Bill Conlin) and for "wrecklessness" (Steven A. Smith's spelling, not mine). Ultimately, I believe that neither bloggers or journalists have a monopoly on truth and responsibility. We are all just humans, with our own biases and blindspots and emotions and often deadlines, and that you judge the quality of writing not based on what someone's profession is, but rather on the content of what they are saying.

On a recent PTI, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon asked the question who deserves a bigger apology: Chargers head coach Norv Turner or Texans defensive end Mario Williams? And they came down on the side of Williams, noting that people called him a bust before he even had put on an NFL jersey:

Ultimately, I don't know what type of career Mario Williams will ultimately have. But what I do know is that our society is subject to group think and hype. And that the mainstream media as a whole did Mario Williams and the fans a disservice when they didn't even provide even basic information about him when he was drafted.

Certainly more people probably heard the criticism of the 2006 draft pick because he wasn't Reggie Bush or Vince Young, than will ever hear media types apologizing for calling him an instant bust.

Personally, I find that some of the most irresponsible reporting of the 2006 draft came from the Houston Chronicle. Most national media sources rely on local media to get a feel for local teams. Houston is a one newspaper town, and that newspaper's staff was very angry that neither Vince Young or Reggie Bush were chosen by the Texans.

It's fine for a columnist to dislike a draft pick. Columnists form opinions, that's what they do. What is irresponsible is for an entire newspaper not to provide even basic information about that pick so that fans can learn about a player they aren't familiar with and decide for themselves.

The Chronicle didn't provide any history of Williams' college career, or talk with the players and coaches from his team and I am pretty certain that none of the columnists watched him play an entire game. Basically, all they discussed his physical size and freakish athletic ability, so most fans were left with the impression that he was just a combine wonder, even though he had a great college career coming out as a true junior and was likely going to be picked #2 by the Saints.

If you want to know more about how incomplete and unfair the Chronicle reporting was on this issue, and would like to read the types of information that fans might have wanted to know about Mario Williams at the time, I suggest checking out this blog post I wrote after the draft entitled "The ultimate Mario Williams compendium." (My byline is no longer on the piece, but I wrote it. The pompous title was meant as a minor joke).

In November 2007, after Gary Kubiak kept praising Mario Williams performances, Chronicle columnist Richard Justice suggested that Williams "is doing a great impersonation of a sixth rounder." This absurd opinion is no surprise given that after Williams' third game in the NFL, Justice invited his blog readers to come up with derogatory nicknames for the rookie.

Richard Justice finally sorta-kinda-not really apologized this week--in a blog post and in two small paragraphs at the end of a column. Justice even admitted that he was wrong in stating that Williams couldn' t play in an email exchange with the blogger from the Texans-focused DGDB&D site who writes particularly nasty things about Justice (link vulgarity warning).

Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle recently discussed this roller coaster view of Mario Williams and Texans by "the media" (though the description of the Mario Williams talk as "he's a bust-he's a Pro Bowler" really fits the other Chronicle columnists more than the media in general).

The local media wasn't alone in providing an incomplete picture of Williams as he came into the league and wanting to call him an immediate bust. ESPN had a cover story on Williams right after the draft that spent more time updating readers of what notorious draft busts of history were doing than it did talking about Williams' background.

As this is a sports blog, it is worth stating that Mario Williams, now that he is healthy this season and understanding the game better, is having a really good 2007. It's clear that he is still learning, but with 9 1/2 sacks so far and being solid against the run, you can see how teams are game planning for him.

But as to the bigger issue of trying to find reality through the hype, I don't want to bash Richard Justice or the media in general. If you write enough words, you are likely going to write a few you wish you could take back.

I just think that the 2006 draft is a cautionary tale about how excessive hype can lead to people seeing what they want to see, ignoring what doesn't fit their thesis, and overhyping or dogpiling people depending on what the popular point of view is at that particular moment based on limited information.

We as readers and viewers of news, sports or otherwise, from any source have to use our own judgment to figure out if we are getting the complete story, or just something silly to generate page views. (Or to tell tales on myself, this silly link).

I like reading my newspapers and watching my ESPN SportsCenter and listening to my sports talk radio, so consider my minor media review of the 2006 draft as not just criticism for the sake of criticism. I think it can serve as an object lesson and plea for the mainstream media and for bloggers to keep looking for truth among all the hype, and for all of us to be critical viewers, readers and listeners.

Tags: gary+kubiak, GaryKubiak, jerome+solomon, JeromeSolomon, Mario+Williams, MarioWilliams, michael+wilbon, MichaelWilbon, Reggie+Bush, ReggieBush, Richard+Justice, RichardJustice, tony+kornheiser, TonyKornheiser, Vince+Young, VinceYoung

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