Reiss suggests the Pats might be concerned with Butler off the field

[Kontradiction]

Reiss just acknowledged on Twitter that it was an "incomplete piece" by him.

 

[hypotherion]

Reiss has issued a mea culpa: Piece on Malcolm Butler was incomplete

 

[Ian]

Reiss has issued a mea culpa: Piece on Malcolm Butler was incomplete

Was just going to post that here. Tell me the last beat writer to do anything like that?

He's also taking his lumps on Twitter and not making any excuses:

Tweets with replies by Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) | Twitter

 

[bormio]

After reading 6 pages of this, the ONLY thing I can think of that would make Reiss put out that much pure speculation would be that he was thinking about the things Butler did to get kicked out of school in one instance, and change schools in another. Things that happened 7 or 8 years ago when "young and stupid" is still somewhat of an excuse, but still happened.

It was a very odd piece by Reiss and obviously disappointing.

Those things did not stop the Pats from signing him. The implication is it is something else.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

So you are assuming is the NEP feeding him info with the intention to put shade on Malcolm? Interesting theory.

But one that makes no sense. If Malcolm stays, you want him happy for the next year. If he goes, you want some team to give you the best possible deal for him, so again you don't want to raise doubts.

 

[Tony2046]

Why would you want Reiss to trash Butler if there's more that would make him look bad? The only way to support what he's saying is to tell you exactly what any issue might be, which I don't blame him for not doing. He doesn't need to make a name for himself, so he tends to try and always do the right thing and not throw something horrible out there about a guy if it can be avoided, while trying to be as accurate as he can.

You need to remember, Mike has always been a guy who follows what fans are talking about and tries to bring answers to what they're most interested in. I think most people feel like there must be something extreme going on for Butler to be on the way out just over a month removed from helping the team win their fifth title and his second ring. He's just trying to tell people that there's more to it than we might think, but he's not willing to go farther than that - and I don't blame him.

For those who don't remember, go back and look at the Chandler Jones story and try and remember a lot of the crazy initial reports that came out - that were completely wrong. Mike was the last one to come out with his (almost a full day later), which he didn't do until he knew the facts and the actual story ended up being quite different than a lot of the initial whispers. So keep that in mind before assuming Mike falls into that category.

Difference with the Chandler story was there was a police record and Reiss brought clarity to it. But in this case Reiss created a story that others will speculate on.

What off the field stuff?? Was he arrested? Gang affiliations? Bingo addict? What?

It would have been better to imply BB isn't going to sign his young players to big contracts until he has time to evaluate them for a few years. That would have been enough.

 

[bormio]

Reiss has issued a mea culpa: Piece on Malcolm Butler was incomplete

So I see why Edelman had a kid ....

 

[borg]

An unsubstantiated slur, unlike any article Reiss has ever written, happens to get posted the very morning the subject of the article is negotiating with another team.

Reiss channeling his inner Tomase?

My unsubstantiated opinion: someone cashed in a chip and Reiss obliged. It smells of JK...a vindictive sort

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Butler deserved better than this veiled hit piece.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Kontradiction]

Was just going to post that here. Tell me the last beat writer to do anything like that?

He's also taking his lumps on Twitter and not making any excuses:

Tweets with replies by Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) | Twitter

Most of them don't. They dig their heels in and double down. That's what makes Reiss, Reiss. Not everyone can bat a thousand and Mike's certainly had his misses before. This is one of them. At least he's owning up to it. As I said before, this reeks of his editor putting the squeeze on him to get something out. Given that it's ESPN, it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.

 

[Kontradiction]

An unsubstantiated slur, unlike any article Reiss has ever written, happens to get posted the very morning the subject of the article is negotiating with another team.

Reiss channeling his inner Tomase?

My unsubstantiated opinion: someone cashed in a chip and Reiss obliged. It smells of JK...a vindictive sort

When has that ever been Reiss' MO? Further, why would he put out the follow up article and take to Twitter in the way that he has if that was the case?

 

[patfanken]

Those things did not stop the Pats from signing him. The implication is it is something else.

that's likely, especially since Reiss has already written a mea culpa piece in response to the universal beating he's taken on twitter.

Piece on Malcolm Butler was incomplete

 

[Tony2046]

Was just going to post that here. Tell me the last beat writer to do anything like that?

He's also taking his lumps on Twitter and not making any excuses:

Tweets with replies by Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) | Twitter

I think he replied to everyone who commented on that article. That's awesome.

 

[Kontradiction]

I've never seen a reporter get his ass kicked like that on Twitter and issue an apology to every single Tweet he gets. That's honestly admirable. The article was terrible but at least he's owning up to it.

 

[jimnance]

Was just going to post that here. Tell me the last beat writer to do anything like that?

He's also taking his lumps on Twitter and not making any excuses:

Tweets with replies by Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) | Twitter

Now THAT is more like the Mike Reiss I've known. "I did a poor job". I agree,Ian, can't recall another beat writer manning up like that. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

[bormio]

I like Reiss, but reporters need to remember sometimes saying sorry does not undo the damage. Saying unsubstantiated negative things about Butler is not real popular with the Patriot fan base.

 

[Deus Irae]

It's good that Reiss walked the piece back a bit, and apologized. It's bad that the piece ever got published in the first place. The problems with it were glaring, and should never gotten missed. If Reiss has someone who's supposed to screen pieces in those situations, that person needs to do a lot of explaining. If Reiss doesn't, he might want to take this as an opportunity to change that situation.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

a) Makes no sense. Why would the Pats come out with ANYTHING to impugn Butler's character IF they are trying to trade him. That would only hurt his trade value. Makes ZERO sense.

IF it is a) then someone is impugning Butler and the issue becomes, who is doing it and why?????? As you wrote, the front office has no incentive to do so because it negatively impact his trade value...

That is, if someone fed the story to Reiss and it wasn't pure speculation on mike's part.

 

[borg]

When has that ever been Reiss' MO? Further, why would he put out the follow up article and take to Twitter in the way that he has if that was the case?

As I posted earlier, Reiss carried Kraft's water during the Welker exit saga......as if they were joined at the hip. He is the fourth Kraft son according to some of his peers.

Regarding the Reiss "clarification", his premise that marriage status is a highly valued component of player evaluation....is ABSURD
How did Edelman and Gronk bypass the marriage criteria and singular focus criteria?

Keep digging that hole Mike. His explanation reminds me of the Money Ball scene when scouts are sitting around the table bashing a certain player ...
"He's got an ugly girlfriend. Ugly girlfriend means no confidence."

 

[mike_usagisan]

It's good that Reiss walked the piece back a bit, and apologized. It's bad that the piece ever got published in the first place. The problems with it were glaring, and should never gotten missed. If Reiss has someone who's supposed to screen pieces in those situations, that person needs to do a lot of explaining. If Reiss doesn't, he might want to take this as an opportunity to change that situation.

I've always gotten the sense that ESPN calls the shots and that he has an editor there that decides what goes out.

I believe Reiss when he says he thought it read differently (that's happened to everyone who has ever written anything), but I doubt he gets to tell the ESPN editor to read these pieces better or not publish them.