Post-Mortem

Mooch

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If Simmons doesn't use his new role at HBO to use every new resource at his disposal to create a definite documentary about the NFL's utter mishandling of this situation along with ESPN's role in enabling their nonsense, I'm going to be shocked and disappointed.
 

allstonite

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GBrushTWood said:
 
You're assuming ESPN and the NFL are two separate entities with arms length separation. They are not. ESPN is the NFL's 3rd party public relations arm. Would a public relations firm reveal damaging information about its own client? The notion that Mortensen is an independent journalist is incorrect.
 
In short, Finkle is Einhorn, Einhorn is Finkle. They're the same people.
Great reference and I get that I just don't get saying he'll come out after. He is just taking the cowards way out and acting like he's under legal obligation to keep quiet until it's settled even though he's no longer involved. If he does come out with his story after it's going to look really bad. Especially if it is Kensil and especially if Brady ends up losing. Pathetic
 

moondog80

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Lawyers, is any of this grounds for a libel suit?  Even if it was an innocent mistake, does the failure to issue a retraction qualify as libel?
 

DJnVa

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moondog80 said:
Lawyers, is any of this grounds for a libel suit?  Even if it was an innocent mistake, does the failure to issue a retraction qualify as libel?
 
 
No.
 
 

crystalline

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Mooch said:
If Simmons doesn't use his new role at HBO to use every new resource at his disposal to create a definite documentary about the NFL's utter mishandling of this situation, I'm going to be shocked and disappointed.
It's not just mishandling, Mort's tweet shows that the NFL actively tried to frame Brady. They made up facts that made him look bad.

The other thing Brady needs is a good explanation why the NFL is out to get him. "Kensil is a Jets fan" doesn't seem like enough to make him want to smear Brady. "Goodell wants to weaken the PA" seems too conspiratorial. I don't have a good soundbite for this explanation. If you have one, tweet it at Simmons and KenT.
 

jsinger121

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Two career moves:
1. Wants sources to keep telling him things in the future
2. Wants ESPN to not fire him for angering a profitable partner (the NFL)
 
This exactly
 

Ed Hillel

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It's been obvious for a long time that someone from the NFL was the source of false claims. And even if they weren't it was never corrected by anyone at the office who had the information. It's a clear sign of bias from the start; major, major bias. None of this is new, people just don't care and/or don't want to go down that path in their heads because hating on Brady/the Patriots is more fun.

I'm actually not mad at all with Mortensen, because this stuff is way over his head, in terms of him speaking on the issue, etc. My hope is that one day, someone like Mort, will blow the whistle on this whole operation, but we all know that comes with a heavy price. Look at what happened to Simmons for a much smaller offense.
 

lambeau

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This is about power--Stephen A told D&C the League is sending a message to all players about whose in charge here, no matter how you try to evade our authority.
 

riboflav

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jsinger121 said:
 
It defamed the Patriots organization though.
 
Indirectly. Mort's tweet didn't say - "The Pats organization purposely deflated balls by 2 psi."
 

HomeBrew1901

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I get that people are pissed off at Mort for his report and he's the target du jour of Patriots Fans thanks to Robert Kraft but let's not forget, he's not early days Bill Simmons with no editorial department or omsbudsman.  ESPN could have had that tweet and report pulled or posted a retraction themselves if they really wanted to.
 

moondog80

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riboflav said:
 
Because Mort's tweet defamed footballs, not Brady.
 
 
The tweet pretty clearly implicated the Patriots.  No?  If I have a close associate murdered, and someone tweets that lab test reveal the bullet was fired from my gun - but that's not actually the case -- I don't think the bullet is the damaged party.  Even if they don't say actually say "moondog80 committed the murder", the implication is clear.
 

HomeBrew1901

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dabombdig said:
I think Kensil was out to get the Pats and Brady is just part of the damage.
I think that this is a lot like Mangini and Spygate.
 
They wanted to fuck with the Patriots just a little bit but neither expected the situation to get so far out of control.  I mean both are minor infractions with little or no impact on the game. 
 
Unfortunately because of Goodell and because it's the Patriots, it exploded into something they never expected.
 

pappymojo

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crystalline said:
It's not just mishandling, Mort's tweet shows that the NFL actively tried to frame Brady. They made up facts that made him look bad.

The other thing Brady needs is a good explanation why the NFL is out to get him. "Kensil is a Jets fan" doesn't seem like enough to make him want to smear Brady. "Goodell wants to weaken the PA" seems too conspiratorial. I don't have a good soundbite for this explanation. If you have one, tweet it at Simmons and KenT.
Fuck Kensil but I dont think this is true. Remember that the letter to the NFL teams also had the false information. It is reasonable to wonder who provided the false information (ahem... Kensil) but if he was not the source of the original information the act of leaking the data to the press if at the time you believed the information to be true is not as obviously repugnant. Failing to correct the error when the truth of the matter was revealed is repugnant.

In short, fuck Kensil. Carry on.
 

GBrushTWood

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allstonite said:
Great reference and I get that I just don't get saying he'll come out after. 
 
He probably realized he would piss off his boss (Goodell) and is trying to lay low by providing some nebulous future time when he explains his side. He fucked up big time by agreeing to go on D&C this morning. For today at least, he is directly in the middle of this tornado. Florio picked up on it. It's getting near the top of Reddit /r/nfl. Hopefully, Deadspin runs with a smarmy "Chris Mortensen would really prefer not to speak" type of headline. If he wanted to lay low, he should have never agreed to join D&C this morning. Now, the chorus of questions is growing to a fever pitch.
 
Basically, he's playing all of this moronically. When faced with literally the exact some position last year, even Peter f'ing King came out in a column and apologized for starting an NFL-led smear campaign. When an unadulterated water carrying, ball washer like King makes someone look bias in comparison, that speaks volumes.
 

moondog80

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JayMags71 said:
Kraft, Brady, nor the Patriots are losing revenue as a result of Mort's false report.
 
 
The Patriots were fined a million dollars and Brady was given an unpaid suspension.
 

riboflav

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moondog80 said:
 
 
The Patriots were fined a million dollars and Brady was given an unpaid suspension.
 
You'd have to prove that these punishments were based on the Mort tweet. RG nor Wells ever mention Mort.
 

moondog80

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riboflav said:
 
You'd have to prove that these punishments were based on the Mort tweet. RG nor Wells ever mention Mort.
 
Do libel cases really require a direct line from A to B like that?  That seems like an impossibly high standard.
 

DJnVa

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moondog80 said:
 
Do libel cases really require a direct line from A to B like that?  That seems like an impossibly high standard.
 
Well, libel cases require a high standard. Especially if your "libelous" statement didn't even name you. And you thought it was correct at the time.
 
 

riboflav

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moondog80 said:
 
Do libel cases really require a direct line from A to B like that?  That seems like an impossibly high standard.
 
Yes. It's not impossible but it's a higher standard than almost anyone thinks or so it seems.
 

allstonite

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GBrushTWood said:
 
He probably realized he would piss off his boss (Goodell) and is trying to lay low by providing some nebulous future time when he explains his side. He fucked up big time by agreeing to go on D&C this morning. For today at least, he is directly in the middle of this tornado. Florio picked up on it. It's getting near the top of Reddit /r/nfl. Hopefully, Deadspin runs with a smarmy "Chris Mortensen would really prefer not to speak" type of headline. If he wanted to lay low, he should have never agreed to join D&C this morning. Now, the chorus of questions is growing to a fever pitch.
 
Basically, he's playing all of this moronically. When faced with literally the exact some position last year, even Peter f'ing King came out in a column and apologized for starting an NFL-led smear campaign. When an unadulterated water carrying, ball washer like King makes someone look bias in comparison, that speaks volumes.
Well wasn't it Schefter who kind of sold him out? Said he'd get Mortensen to go on their show and answer for it. Schefter is probably pissed since he's been fair and mostly right the whole time but the Mort thing is making him look bad by association with ESPN. Also I blame ESPN far more than Mort but he has to either retract or correct himself at some point
 

drbretto

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moondog80 said:
 
Why?  
Because the world isn't fair and the law isn't there to actually protect anyone. It's just an alternative avenue for slapping someone back if they technically stepped over some arbitrary line voted on by people who don't know what they're voting on.
 

Otis Foster

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lambeau said:
I love they called Kensil out and then got his wife on the phone--I hope Lumpy  keeps calling. 
 
 
It's like the old musician's joke about the death of Buddy Rich, who was a real asshole.
 
Musician calls Buddy's home, wife answers: "May I please speak with Buddy?"
 
Wife: "Oh you must not have heard, Buddy's dead."
 
2d day, musician calls again, widow answers: "Hi, I'm calling to speak with Buddy."
 
Widow: "We discussed this yesterday, Buddy died last week."
 
3rd day, musician calls Rich's home: "Hi, I'd like to talk with Buddy."
 
Widow (now irate): "This is the 3rd time you've called for Buddy. He's dead. Why do you keep calling?"
 
Musician: "I just like to hear you say that."
 
(Apologies for the digression.)
 

edmunddantes

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The other aspect of the Mort thing is that the NFL doesn't even see Mort as a credible conduit of their leaks anymore.
 
They gave the super juicy destroyed phone bit to SAS, who's a basketball guy for the most part.
 
Mort's most egregious fail is the failure to retract and apologize.
 
Anyone can get burned. Plus if you give up one source, other sources will become weary of trusting you not to burn them. 
 
It's a double-edge sword, and Mort needs those sources for his livelihood.
 
It's just funny that in protecting them, he has kind of shredded his livelihood as no one can take his reporting at face value anymore.
 

drbretto

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edmunddantes said:
The other aspect of the Mort thing is that the NFL doesn't even see Mort as a credible conduit of their leaks anymore.
 
They gave the super juicy destroyed phone bit to SAS, who's a basketball guy for the most part.
 
Mort's most egregious fail is the failure to retract and apologize.
 
Anyone can get burned. Plus if you give up one source, other sources will become weary of trusting you not to burn them. 
 
It's a double-edge sword, and Mort needs those sources for his livelihood.
 
It's just funny that in protecting them, he has kind of shredded his livelihood as no one can take his reporting at face value anymore.
 
Or Mort's once bitten and twice shy and didn't want to be their mouthpiece anymore. 
 
I'm going to be the devil's advocate here and say that as much as Mort deserves all of the backlash he's getting, he does, at the very least, appear to be aware that he was used and just doesn't want to be a part of it anymore. That's probably why they moved over to SAS because he doesn't appear to be aware he was used or just doesn't mind it.
 

Ed Hillel

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In theory, any defamation suit would not be against ESPN, but the NFL itself. Leaking false information to a publication you know will publish it suffices to satisfy that element. Combine that with the fact that nobody from the NFL ever bothered to correct the info, and I would argue all day that's actual malice. It may get a bit trickier after that, but I think there's more than enough bad faith to get a court to take the fase. Quite frankly, I think that if Mort ever was to out Kensil, both the Patriots and Brady would have a case strong enough to get to discovery, which would basically ruin the NFL FO as we know it.

Jeff Pash knows this, which is why I'm sure the NFL did everything in its immense power, including stay up to 4 AM, to scrap this interview.
 

OCST

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grsharky7 said:
Not a fan of D&C but good radio this morning with them just killing the league, Kensil, and Mort.  
 
 
Edit: Mort emails D&C and said he does not endorse misreporting and will not appear on the show today because WEEI drummed up is appearance and will not address this until its over.  Even says do not call at 7:45.  Will not be allow himself to be the center piece of this story.  Wow does he look like petulant little girl.
 
I have a 5-year-old daughter.  Don't insult her by comparing Mort to her.  
 

AB in DC

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Mooch said:
If Simmons doesn't use his new role at HBO to use every new resource at his disposal to create a definite documentary about the NFL's utter mishandling of this situation along with ESPN's role in enabling their nonsense, I'm going to be shocked and disappointed.
 
...which will come out in July 2016, prompting a universal reaction of "That deflate stuff again?  We're sick of hearing it.  Go away!"
 

Devizier

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HomeBrew1901 said:
WEEI a Boston based sports radio show isn't exactly the New York Times, I'm sure he's not sweating any more than he may have been before just because a guy named Lumpy from WEEI called.
 
To be fair, the New York Times isn't exactly the New York Times, either.
 

lambeau

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I think Mort may be miserable. He knows he was terriubly used and compromised and  that he should announce it--and denounce his source (without naming him). But ESPN won't let him expose the NFL.
The best he can do is to email his former friends at EEI that he hopes TB12 wins--that's the loudest message he can allow himself. Sad.
 
The Times did apologize over WMD when they were similarly duped by Cheney via Scooter Libby--Ted Wells' other illustrious client.
 

dcmissle

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Mort is a pitiful figure, not unlike a champ boxer forced by the Mob to throw fights while on the way down.

This is not to question his integrity. He has plenty. For a magical 15 minutes, he and Schedter went ballistic when they realized they had been played by the NFL on the Ray Rice matter.

But this is now the second time in two years he has been abused by the League -- and this time muzzled by his network.

I don't care about a Stephen A Smith. He is a clown, not to be taken seriously. With Mort, this is sad.
 

Van Everyman

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Good post. But did Mort go ballistic? I remember Schefter getting red faced about it but not Mort.

Lesson here is: live by the access, die by the access.
 

crystalline

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Van Everyman said:
Lesson here is: live by the access, die by the access.
I think a bigger lesson is: the integrity or opinions of any individual matter only so much- eventually systemic pressure from their organizations gets to them. Either they fall in line, like Mort, or leave, like Simmons. And left are Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless, and interchangeable bland faces parroting the network party line.
 

dcmissle

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Van Everyman said:
Good post. But did Mort go ballistic? I remember Schefter getting red faced about it but not Mort.

Lesson here is: live by the access, die by the access.
I recall him and Schefter going nuts on Twitter around the time there was a report that the elevator video had been sent to the NFL. This undoubtedly burned Mort deeply because early on, after the first settlement, he reported that the League had seen everything there was to see, in defense of the first lenient punishment. Then then NFL said, oh no we didn't after the outrage erupted, and it then used the second tape to justify the enhanced punishment and to claim that Rice had lied. (This was overturned of course, with a retired federal judge finding RG was not credible). That threw Mort under the bus. And when it was reported that the tape was sent to the NFL office, it was more than Mort and Schefter could bear. Some of this outrage even leaked on to ESPN over a weekend, but then the network shut that down.
 

judyb

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Mort is a pitiful figure, not unlike a champ boxer forced by the Mob to throw fights while on the way down.

This is not to question his integrity. He has plenty. For a magical 15 minutes, he and Schedter went ballistic when they realized they had been played by the NFL on the Ray Rice matter.

But this is now the second time in two years he has been abused by the League -- and this time muzzled by his network.

I don't care about a Stephen A Smith. He is a clown, not to be taken seriously. With Mort, this is sad.
Sorry, but I can't agree with your take on his integrity, this is hardly the mob who would kill him if he didn't go along, and I find it difficult to believe that someone with his resume can't find a way to support his family quite well without allowing himself to be repeatedly abused and remaining silent. They've obviously put him in a difficult position, but unless the consequences of him doing the right thing are more extreme than they appear, he's demonstrating the difference in integrity of what we count on getting from a reporter compared to a media member like Stephen A. Smith who doesn't pretend to be one. And, it's okay if that's what he is now, but then stop pretending to be a reporter so we know not to expect that level of integrity from him.
 

Sportsbstn

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judyb said:
Sorry, but I can't agree with your take on his integrity, this is hardly the mob who would kill him if he didn't go along, and I find it difficult to believe that someone with his resume can't find a way to support his family quite well without allowing himself to be repeatedly abused and remaining silent. They've obviously put him in a difficult position, but unless the consequences of him doing the right thing are more extreme than they appear, he's demonstrating the difference in integrity of what we count on getting from a reporter compared to a media member like Stephen A. Smith who doesn't pretend to be one. And, it's okay if that's what he is now, but then stop pretending to be a reporter so we know not to expect that level of integrity from him.
 
I would agree.   Integrity is out the window here with Mort.   When you absolutely know for months now that information you reported was complete BS and do nothing to change it, you don't have integrity at all.   Especially in a situation as big as this, he has hidden from the truth, then claimed he was a victim.   Have the integrity to set the record straight, but he has none in this case.