Seth Wickersham's history of unsourced NFL stories of discontent

[goheels22002]

SI and ESPN have gotten lots of clicks, eyeballs and publicity as a result of Seth Wickersham pieces that have the same theme. Discontent, malfeasance, divided locker room, coach hates player(s), players want out, owner meddles, malicious intentions. And, they are all anonymously sourced.

Wickersham has a formula. He butt sniffs the current contenders (Harbaugh's 49ers, Shanahan's Broncos, Carroll's Seahawks, Belichick's Patriots.) He gets published. He misses details. He makes stuff up (Patriot of the Week?). He says he talked with people inside the organization, or received numerous calls confirming whatever he's selling.

Wiskersham is worse than our two favorite punching bags Dan Shaughnessy and Ron Borges who at least go to the stadium, ask questions on air in the press conferences, and name sources. The last link below even has the SI omsbudsmen questioning an unsourced story on Deflategate by this hack who builds on Chris Mortensen's bogus ESPN report.

You don't have to read very far into the links below to see the pattern.

Seattle Seahawks: Cliff Avril says report of a divided Seahawks locker room is 'fake news'

Roger Goodell on kneeling and the national anthem: Goodell's wife had secret Twitter acc't to fire back at critics

Broncos and Mike Shanahan: ESPN's Seth Wickersham notes on Broncos training camp (T. Bell is pissed)

49ers Jim Harbaugh psychological profile 2014: Deion Sanders defends his comments on rift between Jim Harbaugh and 49ers players

Deflategate where SI's ombudsman questions Wickersham's lack of sources: Lack of transparency on Deflategate made journalism tougher to judge

 

[oldrover]

Wickersham:

 

[IcyPatriot]

 

[jam757]

Seth WickerSHAM is a very appropriate name. What a total scumbag.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

He makes stuff up (Patriot of the Week?

FWIW, Lombardi says there absolutely is a (team-internal) "Patriot of the Week" award.

 

[goheels22002]

FWIW, Lombardi says there absolutely is a (team-internal) "Patriot of the Week" award.

Where does he say that? We're not talking about game balls here. How come nobody ever heard of it before... and why would Tom Brady give a rat's ass about that? There's always been a practice player of the week, but Patriot of the Week sounds awfully pee-wee football.

 

[Angelpats]

FWIW, Lombardi says there absolutely is a (team-internal) "Patriot of the Week" award.

I have heard of a “patriots difference maker of the week” for volunteers in the community but a mysterious award for players that a captain of the team desperately just doesn’t make sense. Hardly anyone knows what it’s for but it sounds like a perks award for something fun like reserved parking spaces in which case I can see players talking and have fun wanting it.

 

[RobertWeathers]

There is no such thing as Patriot of the Week

EDIT: I'm wrong.

 

[NashuaPats]

Lombardi did confirm that there is a Patriot of the week. It is awfully weird that no Pats beat writer has heard of it. Perhaps, Lombardi is mixed up and that gives Portnoy some credibility in claiming that Lombardi was the leak.

 

[jam757]

You know, I don't give a **** about the team award and trust me, neither does the GOAT. Total non-story gossip column.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

Here's an example of Wickersham's work.

Sep 7, 2014 CBS- Report: Jim Harbaugh already losing 49ers locker room

A month later (Oct 2, 2014 Wickersham breaks- Wickersham: 49ers' Harbaugh welcomes chaos

He takes rumors that have been around, spins stories around them with anonomyous sources and calls it investigative journalism.

That's all his stories. I'm sure you can expect a breaking report on how James Harrison and the Steelers aren't getting along in 2 weeks.

 

[Clonamery]

Wham bam Wickersham.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Lombardi did confirm that there is a Patriot of the week. It is awfully weird that no Pats beat writer has heard of it. Perhaps, Lombardi is mixed up and that gives Portnoy some credibility in claiming that Lombardi was the leak.

I think Lombardi is confused

 

[NashuaPats]

I think Lombardi is confused

If Lombardi is confused and there is no such award, wouldn't that indicate that he is the leak?

 

[RobertWeathers]

If Lombardi is confused and there is no such award, wouldn't that indicate that he is the leak?

He says he is not the leak.

Or

He could be saying there is an award but has the actuallyPats award name incorrect.

 

[jmt57]

From what I can see he takes a local story (e.g., Guerrero) and rewords some local op/ed on that story.

The speculation about the JG trade was just too much of a temptation to pass up, regardless of the outcome of whatever information was uncovered.

It's the equivalent of coming to a conclusion first and working backwards rather than the reverse.

So he then amplifies the speculation and rumors tenfold with the backing of a national organization that thrives on gossip and controversy, desperate for ratings due to an internal financial crisis, all under the pretense of sport reporting with "insider" contacts.

Who are his sources?
Borges?
Tomase?
Felger?

 

[meatface]

I'm not losing any sleep over this, if its true then complaining about how much this guy sucks wont do anything and if its mostly just conjecture then nobody in the Patriots org cares. So lets all move on to Titans/Bills.

 

[Ring 6]

From what I can see he takes a local story (e.g., Guerrero) and rewords some local op/ed on that story.

The speculation about the JG trade was just too much of a temptation to pass up, regardless of the outcome of whatever information was uncovered.

It's the equivalent of coming to a conclusion first and working backwards rather than the reverse.

So he then amplifies the speculation and rumors tenfold with the backing of a national organization that thrives on gossip and controversy, desperate for ratings due to an internal financial crisis, all under the pretense of sport reporting with "insider" contacts.

Who are his sources?
Borges?
Tomase?
Felger?

It’s very easy to troll for sources when you already have your conclusion.
Example. Brady uses Guerrero instead of pats training staff. If you want a hit job article on brady asks the trainers about him and lead them.
Most of his “sources” aren’t even quoted but he speaks of their feelings or beliefs.

 

[fourhour]

Lombardi did confirm that there is a Patriot of the week. It is awfully weird that no Pats beat writer has heard of it. Perhaps, Lombardi is mixed up and that gives Portnoy some credibility in claiming that Lombardi was the leak.

I found the Lombardi story here: Six For Saturday: Brady in a No-Win Situation Moving Forward - PatsFans.com

 

[PatsWSB47]

Interesting but not surprising tid bit in Seth's picks he made with the other BSBN "experts" during the regular season. Out of the 11 that pick, he came in 9th place.