PFT: After fateful PSI report, NFL declined to give real numbers to Chris Mortensen

[Koma]

Something doesn't quite add up with the story Mortensen is telling now. From the article:

But Mort’s January 20 tweet and ESPN.com story that contained the 2 pounds per square inch number remained uncorrected for more than six months — even as Rapoport offered contradictory reporting. Mort said he made more phone calls during that period but found the NFL had gone silent.

Between January and July of 2015, Mortensen claims he tried to get more information out of the NFL, but no one would talk to him about that subject.

What's hard to reconcile with this story is that Mortensen backed out of an appearance on EEI in August of that year. He appeared on the Dan LeBetard show shortly after that and never mentioned anything about the league stonewalling him about the real PSI numbers. Now, he's saying that's what happened.

There are some other interesting quotes in that interview, like this one:

And oh by the way, in my original reporting, (I) never implicated Tom Brady. Never implicated the Patriots. I did ask the question if Walt Anderson, the referee, followed the protocol and the league assured me he had. But the first person who really mentioned Tom Brady in this whole matter happened to be Bill Belichick in that Thursday press conference: 'If you want to ask about the footballs, ask Tom.'

Nobody from the NFL ever identified Brady as being the target of an investigation in that first week we're talking about, within three days of the game. Brady's never mentioned. The Patriots are never mentioned.

In his mind, the "11 of 12 balls" tweet had nothing to do with the Patriots. It's everyone else's fault for jumping to that conclusion. Maybe he believes Bryan Stork was going to be the target of the investigation.

This was also the interview where he also claimed that the Kraft's apologized to him, which they have denied:

And to be honest with you, Robert Kraft and I have had a conversation since then. It's going to remain confidential. But it's basic gist is: My fight, our fight, is not with you. It's with the NFL. We have no beef with you. We have a beef with the NFL."

Like Peter King, Mortensen seems to live in his own little world, where his opinion is the only way to look at things, nothing is ever really his fault, and there's no way that his sources in the league would ever use him to do their bidding.

 

[letekro]

Why are we applying strict journalistic integrity standards to TV personalities like Chris Mortensen? These guys have no real journalistic talent, training, or education, as far as I can tell; and they work for an entertainment company that sells the NFL product. I realize it was damaging to Tom's case, but blame the NFL, not the moron holding the microphone.

 

[sb1]

Is it true that Mark Brunell really cried over a couple of baby chipmunk farts of air that might have been let out of a football?

 

[Deus Irae]

Why are we applying strict journalistic integrity standards to TV personalities like Chris Mortensen? These guys have no real journalistic talent, training, or education, as far as I can tell; and they work for an entertainment company that sells the NFL product. I realize it was damaging to Tom's case, but blame the NFL, not the moron holding the microphone.

Why do we try applying journalistic integrity standards to anyone in the media? Finding a journalist with ethics might not quite be quite as rare as finding a unicorn, but it's not that much more likely.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Bottom line is Mort, you failed to Do Your Job!

 

[Dr Pain]

Bottom line is Mort, you failed to Do Your Job!

I completely understand his mistake of falling for an NFL scheme to fix the Superbowl, what is unforgivable is that after it became clear he was used, he never attempts to mitigate the damage he did. Instead he is the victim of those mean Patriots fans who called him on his BS.

 

[letekro]

Is it true that Mark Brunell really cried over a couple of baby chipmunk farts of air that might have been let out of a football?

At the very least, it choked him up pretty good:

 

[jimache]

I might be missing something here but, didn't Mort go on an Arizona radio in August/September last year and pretty much doubled down stating he stands behind his reporting ... I distinctly remember something on WEEI ... i could be wrong(it happens often).

Any ways, FU$K Mort and the entire BSPN crew ... as far as I'm concerned they can all eat $$it and die ...

 

[MagicMarker]

It isn't Grigson's fault, D'Qwell Jackson's fault, the Colts fault, the Ravens fault, or anyone else along those lines because they just reported it to the league, who is then responsible for the investigation.

I think D'Qwell Jackson got sucked into this, too. Wasn't it the Colts who said he detected the ball was "low" (and that was repeated by the appeals court)? I thought Jackson said he didn't notice anything and he never said to anyone he thought the ball pressure was low.

I know it's hard to believe, but I think the NFL lied on this one, too.

 

[captain stone]

Jackson might not have known what was about to happen, but the Clots (HC, GM, owner) sure did. They were in on the sting from the opening kickoff; that's why they wanted the intercepted ball so badly.

 

[BradyFTW!]

One thing that should not be overlooked is that, according to everyone in the sports media and everyone in the sports that he covers, Chris Mortensen is considered to be very good at his job. He isn't just a sports journalist, he's allegedly among the very best of this. This all relates to one of my favorite quotes, written by Michael Crichton, about a strange thing called Gell-Mann Amnesia:

Media carries with it a credibility that is totally undeserved. You have all experienced this, in what I call the Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. (I call it by this name because I once discussed it with Murray Gell-Mann, and by dropping a famous name I imply greater importance to myself, and to the effect, than it would otherwise have.)

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect works as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward-reversing cause and effect. I call these the “wet streets cause rain” stories. Paper’s full of them.

In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story-and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read with renewed interest as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about far-off Palestine than it was about the story you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.

That is the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. I’d point out it does not operate in other arenas of life. In ordinary life, if somebody consistently exaggerates or lies to you, you soon discount everything they say. In court, there is the legal doctrine of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, which means untruthful in one part, untruthful in all.

But when it comes to the media, we believe against evidence that it is probably worth our time to read other parts of the paper. When, in fact, it almost certainly isn’t. The only possible explanation for our behavior is amnesia.
​

The fact that Mort--a guy who we now know is some combination of clueless, lazy, stupid, and/or self-serving at the expense of the truth--is held up as one of the guys who does it right should absolutely inform our opinions on sports journalism and its credibility moving forward. If the last few years have taught me anything, it's that journalists only necessarily excel at one thing, which is writing as though they have some idea what the **** they're talking about. Yet almost every time I read a report or article on some subject that I'm actually well-versed in, I'm struck by how clueless the writer actually is, and irritated to know that people will take this idiot's opinion as informed or authoritative in any way.

My takeaway: the media--every type of media--is populated by idiots banking on undeserved credibility.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

So... Mort never bothered to print that information. F' Mort and the horse he rode on. He's looking for an out and he'll get nothing from me but hate. Not a shred of honor among this scum. Never believe the hype and lies this pathetic person will try you with to salve his wicked soul.

 

[RobertWeathers]

At the very least, it choked him up pretty good:

Hes still crying over the $50m he lost.

Dumbass.

 

[RobertWeathers]

One thing that should not be overlooked is that, according to everyone in the sports media and everyone in the sports that he covers, Chris Mortensen is considered to be very good at his job. He isn't just a sports journalist, he's allegedly among the very best of this. This all relates to one of my favorite quotes, written by Michael Crichton, about a strange thing called Gell-Mann Amnesia:

Media carries with it a credibility that is totally undeserved. You have all experienced this, in what I call the Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. (I call it by this name because I once discussed it with Murray Gell-Mann, and by dropping a famous name I imply greater importance to myself, and to the effect, than it would otherwise have.)

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect works as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward-reversing cause and effect. I call these the “wet streets cause rain” stories. Paper’s full of them.

In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story-and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read with renewed interest as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about far-off Palestine than it was about the story you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.

That is the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. I’d point out it does not operate in other arenas of life. In ordinary life, if somebody consistently exaggerates or lies to you, you soon discount everything they say. In court, there is the legal doctrine of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, which means untruthful in one part, untruthful in all.

But when it comes to the media, we believe against evidence that it is probably worth our time to read other parts of the paper. When, in fact, it almost certainly isn’t. The only possible explanation for our behavior is amnesia.
​

The fact that Mort--a guy who we now know is some combination of clueless, lazy, stupid, and/or self-serving at the expense of the truth--is held up as one of the guys who does it right should absolutely inform our opinions on sports journalism and its credibility moving forward. If the last few years have taught me anything, it's that journalists only necessarily excel at one thing, which is writing as though they have some idea what the **** they're talking about. Yet almost every time I read a report or article on some subject that I'm actually well-versed in, I'm struck by how clueless the writer actually is, and irritated to know that people will take this idiot's opinion as informed or authoritative in any way.

My takeaway: the media--every type of media--is populated by idiots banking on undeserved credibility.

I had forgotten that Crichton wrote that.

Well done.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I had forgotten that Crichton wrote that.

Well done.

That is so accurate and such a great quote. I had never heard of it before; kudos to Crichton.

 

[Jackson 2]

I might be missing something here but, didn't Mort go on an Arizona radio in August/September last year and pretty much doubled down stating he stands behind his reporting ... I distinctly remember something on WEEI ... i could be wrong(it happens often).

Any ways, FU$K Mort and the entire BSPN crew ... as far as I'm concerned they can all eat $$it and die ...

I have the same recollection. In fact, I seem to remember I believe on the OMF show, the hosts laughing about Mort being dumb/naive enough to think that in this day and age he could go on some hayseed station in East Bumf###, lie and no one would ever know. Edit: just Googled it. Occurred in late August. Mort said Jonathan Kraft apologized to him, among other outrageous crap.

 

[IllegalContact]

there's an article on ESPN that has him complaining about the death wishes he got by pats fans.......no place to comment though though.... because they're smart enough to know we'd burn it down

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Yeah, it's actually sort of weird that he says "to his credit…" about Mortensen not raising hell about being lied to and stonewalled. As a journalist, he should have raised hell. It's to his eternal discredit that he let it stand.

There are very few sports writers in America who can call themselves journalists. Mort isn't one of them.

And Florio does give Mort a total pass. We all knew the NFL was lying out of their ass. What this confirms is that Mort knew pretty early on how shaky that source was, and did nothing about it. It doesn't forgive his actions; it actually makes it worse, as he should have come out fairly soon after with the wavering.

 

[PatriotsReign]

F**k NFL, F**k ESPN, F**k everybody

For all the old school blue collar people from the old Southie and Savin Hill areas...

"I'm going to F**k those NFL F**k's the F**k up!"

 

[captain stone]

I grew up not too far from Savin Hill, or as it was known to us, Stab 'n Kill...