Did CBS Mislead Readers About Blount?
April 19th, 2012
The inherent problem with any form of print media is that quotes typically aren’t delivered with any hint as to the subject’s tone of voice, attitude, facial expressions, etc. — the things that help a reader know what message the subject was really trying to send. Words are also taken out of context, at times.
LeGarrette Blount apparently learned that lesson April 3, when he told CBSSports.com that he would not be a fan of the Bucs drafting a running back, presumably Trent Richardson, as CBSSports.com made clear in its story.
Speaking to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times yesterday, Blount advised everyone not to take his comments the wrong way.
“Like I said, it was just a comment,” Blount said. “There’s nothing for anybody to read too deep into. You know, there’s not nothing I would want to explain. It was just a comment and I left it at that.
“Of course. I’d welcome [Trent Richardson] as a teammate. I’ve met the guy before. He’s not a bad kid, but at the same time, like I said, I’d welcome anything that helps the team get better. I’d welcome anybody as a teammate, it doesn’t matter who it is.’’
In a bizzare twist today, CBSSports.com reporter Will Brinson, who penned the initial story about Blount, wrote about Blount’s new comments and felt the need write this paragraph:
Blount’s comments at the time weren’t directed specifically at Richardson anyway; Blount was just saying that he would be taken aback if the Buccaneers felt the need to draft another running back.
That’s a bizarre take considering the headline of the original CBSSports.com headline read as follows: LeGarrette Blount on Trent Richardson: ‘I would not like that pick’, and Brinson’s opening paragraph set the Richardson stage.
So which is it, CBS?
Joe realizes Brinson likely didn’t write the headline, but Joe can’t wrap his head around why Brinson would have written that paragraph above today, claiming the quote wasn’t about Richardson. That’s fishy.
Regardless, it was a dumb thing for Blount to utter at the time and Blount is now saying the right things. But Joe’s feeling like Blount got chop-blocked by CBS.
April 19th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
I never had a problem with Blount’s comment to begin with. I would have been more concerned if he had said “Oh I’d love the Trent Richardson pick! That would relegate me to a backup role and I’d be thrilled with less carries!”
I mean C’mon. It may not have been smart in some people’s eyes but it was honest and I appreciate that.
April 19th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
I can only imagine the players just rolling their eyes at 90% of the media coverage…
April 19th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Blindsided by the Lame Stream Media??? Now there’s a surprise.
Where’s Walter Cronkite when you need him??? Probably rolling over in his grave with disgust at what the media has come to. There was a time when you could trust the news media and what they said was the truth without spin.
BTW, Mr Cronkite and I attended the same high school, not at the same time of course and he got better grades. What an Icon
April 19th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@Bobby, I agree with you 100%.
April 19th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Hopefully the Blount haters will stop foaming at the mouth now.
Like i said before. Taking a RB in the draft wouldn’t hurt anything. But when it’s the #5 overall spot. It almost guarantee’s him the new starter no matter what Blount did to save his job.Its’s a business and you don’t pay 30+mil for a player to just play a “Role”.
I never believe Blount was afraid of competition, but he isn’t stupid either. Grab a RB anywhere in the draft tohe has a chance to compete. Select one in the top 10, no chance in hell.
April 19th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Blount can’t get a fair shake because of a single punch he threw in college, and a$$holes act like they never punched anyone in their life, let alone in their youth. And might I add, after playing in a loss of a high adrenaline game with some douchebag ragging god knows what in his ear. That punk from Boise gets a fair shake and he’s the turd that initiated the classless behavior in the first place. Blount is forever going to be called a “thug” when he’s, in fact, never been in trouble with the law in his life. Pure bullspit!
Maybe he’s not the most role model citizen on the team, but from I’ve seen with an unbiased eye, the guy isn’t nearly the person he’s made out to be.
Also, people call Blount dumb and slow all too often. He speaks no worse/better than half the league and always comes off as a classy guy in interviews.
I’m sick of Blount being labeled a miscreant.
April 19th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Blount does get a bad rap for the ‘punch’, but let’s not forget he ‘punched’ a Titans teammate during camp as well. Bucs fans are already aware of what Blount can and cannot do. We will draft another RB, and if TRich is available at 5 it will be him.
April 19th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Fists go flying every year during Training Camp. It’s a very high emotion and high competition time for most these players. Most just aren’t announced and made a big deal of. Hell, almost every single game i’ve ever watched of football. There is going to be some kind of scuffle at some point. It’s the nature of the beast. You play a contact sport and things happen in the heat of the moment.
Again, it was also reported that the Titan players were influentially trying to rile him up to get him to throw a punch. I remember watching the video, you could see them harassing Blount.
April 19th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
I’m not trying to defend the punches. He is a professional and he needs to be able to control those emotions.
I’m just saying look at the circumstance first before passing judgement.
I just don’t like always seeing the negatives in his game with out looking at the positives too.
He has already been one of our better RB’s in the history of the Bucs. A few of his faults are completely coach-able. I can’t believe more people aren’t trying to get excited about what this kid can do. With his first FULL off season program to use to prepare properly, a REAL coach who has attention to details, and what looks like a game plan that will revolve around feeding him the ball. Let’s not forget the new and improved “Great Wall of Tampa Bay”.
Blount is about to have a monster year.
April 19th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Good for him, he has done the right thing by publicly changing his tune. Hopefully he has learned his lesson, so next time he doesn’t say something more serious because he wasn’t thinking. This is a lesson that you have to be real careful with what you say (and tweet) nowadays.
April 19th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
This changes my view of Blount a bit. My take, and it was due to the way CBS portrayed his response, was that Blount didn’t want to have the competition. This new information makes a little more sense. I still think Blount should be more careful in how he answers questions, but we forget sometimes that he is still a pup. That said, I’m still a big fan of the Bucs drafting TR – it’s one thing to draft the best guy at a cerrtain position for that draft class. It’s another thing to draft the best guy at his position in the last 5 years (since AP).
April 19th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Joe –
Love the website and check it at least 2-3 times/day. You make it very apparent that you have Blount’s back and that you urge strongly against drafting Richardson, which are both fine…this is your site.
When there is a question regarding Blount’s comments/attitude/character, etc., you repeatedly seem to have his back, which is also fine.
I would just have liked to see you simply pose the question or bring to light Morris Claiborne’s Twitter post a few weeks back, which seemed to be a strong backlash at the Wonderlic critics and perhaps a “character questionable” inclusion of multiple $$$
I, personally, didn’t think much of it. I could have done without him bragging that he will be a “Top 10” pick and including the dollar signs…but I completely expected you to bring it up here.
There are a few players who I’m sure would have sparked a post by you if they had done the same.
I wish I didn’t have the stigma that you are trying to keep only the positive about Claiborne on your site, and not play both sides of the fence.
Love the site — just had to say that.
April 19th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
I just think you could have acknowledged that it might be uncomfortable seeing a young player bragging about money and notoriety may draw comparisons to some of the “bad eggs” that the Bucs want to stay away from…which you have mentioned in the past.
April 19th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
So a kid whose name got dragged through the mud & basically was mocked & a national punch line for being a “dummy with a learning disability” after his private tests were released is supposed to just eat it?!
Or is he as a 21 year old kid who is about to fulfill a lifelong dream & get paid handsomely to do so be excited about it, and give a polite middle finger to his detractors.
I have zero problems with Claiborne’s twitter statements, nor Joe’s lack of the need to write an article about such benign tweets.
April 19th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Joe likes Blount? Doesn’t want Richardson drafted? Prefers Mo?
Whatever gave anybody that idea?
April 19th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Most people that get punched in altercations, usually deserve it. Just wanted to throw that out there.
April 19th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Matthew –
If you read closely, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m simply saying that, in the past, many people on this site and many other fans have expressed their issues with some of the Bucs’ players and questioned their character for things like this.
Heck, Joe gave Curtis Lofton some grief regarding $
I’m not saying Claiborne has to swallow it, although I do think it would have shown a little class not to react to it that way – but like you said, he’s a young kid and there’s a big difference in maturity from someone coming out of college and someone a few years out.
I called it a few weeks ago and got a response similar to “I’m sure Joe is just backed up and I’m sure he’ll post it.”
He has not and every time I see something pro-Blount/Claiborne, it just reminds me.
That is all.
April 19th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
I have to side with Blount on this. It all comes down to money. Blount is making what like $500,000 this year? If they draft Richardson he would be competing with a rookie who is already getting paid more than him before the start of training camp. Even if Blount remained the starter, his backup would be getting paid more than him. Let’s not forget he rushed for over 1,000 yards his rookie year playing in only 2/3 of the games. Last year he barely got to touch the ball and still managed to get around 800 yards and was out for a couple hurt if I remember correctly.
April 19th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
@Chris….gotta agree with Matthew 100% on this one. Claiborne gets called an idiot by every social media site out there and his response was basically “@#!! you! I’m getting paid more than most ‘genius’ IQ’s so bite me.” Makes me want to high five him and say “That’s right Morris! Some people have to go to school to make money and others can make money with football skills”. Hope we get him because he is an elite talent. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone with as fluid of movement as he has. The way he can turn his hips, run and close ground is amazing.
April 19th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Bobby –
I hear you. I don’t think I’m making my point so I’ll stop after this:
I’m just hoping for a little more “both sides of the fence” posting here, but that’s fine…this isn’t a news site, it’s a blog, hence everyone (especially including Joe) should have their own opinions.
To me, Claiborne could have done without that, and if we draft him, I’m just hoping that little simple Twitter post doesn’t have a big reflection of the type of person the kid will grow up to be.
As far as Richardson/Claiborne…I like Richardson as the better player, but it’s proven that CBs can last a lot longer than RBs, so I’m cool with drafting Claiborne.
April 19th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Guys .. he didnt just post $$$ … He wrote some messages that truly made me think it was completely Fake … Its hard to believe he really wrote those comments … Atleast I hope its fake
April 19th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
This whole story was silly from the get-go. Of course Blount doesn’t want to see someone come in and take his carries.
I mean, imagine if someone had floated the idea that the Bucs want to trade up to get Luck — how would we have expected Freeman to react if questioned about that?
April 19th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Joe here,
@Chris – Thanks for your feedback. Couple of things:
Here is the Claiborne Tweet in question. “Some peopl don’t no what the test is about r what it is for. But u guys will have to do more then that to bring Momo17 dwn!!! $$$$$ ”
Joe read the Claiborne Twitterings at the time and didn’t think anything of them. Others made a big deal but it really didn’t stimulate Joe positive or negative. So Joe didn’t address it. Claiborne also didn’t write about money, just the $$$, which is quite a bit different. Basically, you’re saying Joe should have read deeply into that and that’s not exactly fair. Still, Joe’s initial reaction was that it wasn’t interesting or worth widly speculating about. Joe did write about the negative Wonderlic score extensively. … Joe’s post here reminds readers that Blount made a foolish quote on April 3, but this post is more about the media and not about having Blount’s back.
April 19th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
BKNY football good post dude. Blount does have some skills he needs to work on but I mean cmon dude came in mid season his rookie year ran 4 a thousand yards. Basically running on instinct and athletic ability alone barely learning the plays. We wouldn’t of had that 10-6 record without him. The next season because of the lockout he had to hand in his playbook didn’t get it back until a month into training camp. So when does this guy had a chance to pick up pass pro and catching the ball. The he’s hindered by Olson’s inept playcalling skills and gets a lack of carries all season also misses a couple of games. I know the few times we did see him catch or pass protection he did alright. But dude hasn’t even had a full offseason to work on these skills yet. Geez people get off this man’s back. How many fumbles last season were just from being one of the only members of the team actually trying? I seem to remember at least 4 fumbles coming from sheer effort alone fighting for his team to not make them more of an embarassment. Im telling you guys now if we don’t draft richardson, and blount gets a full offseason with a real oc, real hc, real rb’s coach (Ernest Byner, he kinda is a magician with rb’s if you havent noticed). Blount is gonna run for over 1500 yards and become a complete rb barring injury.
April 19th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
I think fan and media speculation chop-blocked Blount and possibly CBS, as well. Any idiot could have told you Blount wouldn’t be a fan of the move and at least he was honest about it. It was OBVIOUSLY nothing personal towards Richardson.
Blount just feels like he’s “the guy” and spending the #5 overall pick on the position is a waste of an amazing draft pick. Only the Richardson junkies can disagree, and just barely. Back me up on this one, Joe.
April 19th, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Joe –
Thanks for the reply. Solid and I hear you. There’s always more than one way too look at things and now I see both sides. I’d also be lying if I didn’t say admit that part of what sparked me to mention it is because I believe Richardson is the better player, hence I wanted to hear some “anti-Claiborne” post as well as the “anti-Richardson” ones that have been up here.
If Richardson and Claiborne had been reversed, and Richardson had the score of 4 on the Wonderlic, and he had Tweeted something that made me (partially) question his judgement/attitude, then I may have let it go, too…considering I’m slightly higher on him than Claiborne.
All that being said, I won’t be upset if they draft Claiborne at all…it is true that CBs last much longer than RBs (typically) and I don’t see us competing for a Superbowl in the next few years.
Although it would be great to control the clock and have two threats at RB like most other teams.
April 19th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Claiborne should have at least spelled the words properly on his tweets. It doesn’t do a whole lot to help his cause that he’s not dumb by misspelling words, even though it’s probably just twitter language (at least I hope it was). If it was me, I would have probably run that tweet by someone who got a 10 on the wonderlic, just to make sure there weren’t any major errors. But that’s just me.
I think Chris makes a solid point. I’m sorry Joe, you know I love this site, but do you really expect anyone to believe that you wouldn’t have made an article had Trent Richardson made that tweet? I don’t even care, as this is your site and I enjoy arguing daily with people about TR vs. Claiborne. But come on, you would have tore TR a new one for saying that. But again, I could really care less if you show both sides of it. I probably wouldn’t either if I had my own site. But you could at least admit it:)
April 19th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Sorry, I don’t know how to make that little smiley face thing, so I had to use the 🙂
April 19th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
And now it worked???
April 19th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Joe here,
@Hawaiian – Really think you’re way off. Absolutely no reason for you to believe Joe would have crafted a negative story about Richardson from a Tweet like that.
Don’t recall Joe ever writing anything negative about Trent Richardson. However Joe’s written numerous times about the Bucs not being wise to invest the No. 5 pick on a running back, and how you can get great backs later in the draft, and how the Bucs’ bigger need is at corner. … All that has nothing to do with Richardson.
April 19th, 2012 at 9:58 pm
@Joe,
Maybe I am off, and I apologize if I am. Again, I don’t even think there’s anything wrong if you did. I just happen to disagree with the belief that you can find RB’s later in the draft, yet somehow you can’t find corners late as well. All I want is for us to take the best player available at any position besides QB.
As for writing negative about TR, no you haven’t, but it would be awful hard to find something negative about him. You have, however, written articles that back up your thought that you don’t take a RB that early.
I’m not going to say anymore, because it really doesn’t even matter to me, and I don’t want it to seem like I am attacking you. I love the site and appreciate all the work you do for it. Just keep doing what you are doing.
April 20th, 2012 at 6:49 am
@BigMacAttack Says:
“Where’s Walter Cronkite when you need him??? Probably rolling over in his grave with disgust at what the media has come to. There was a time when you could trust the news media and what they said was the truth without spin.”
Walter Cronkite was an undercover agent for the CIA and was used to cover up things like the Kennedy Assassination. They would even bring him out of retirement and prop him up in front of a camera to help cover up things like the 9/11 “attacks.”
Google Operation Mockingbird.
“In the 1950s, outlays for global propaganda climbed to a full third of the CIA’s covert operations budget. Some 3, 000 salaried and contract CIA employees were eventually engaged in propaganda efforts. The cost of disinforming the world cost American taxpayers an estimated $265 million a year by 1978, a budget larger than the combined expenditures of Reuters, UPI and the AP news syndicates.”
Cronkite was a trusted and valued part of that huge mass propaganda effort.
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=7246
April 20th, 2012 at 10:31 am
@Miguel Grande….can we just keep this about football please??