NFL Network has scathing criticism of reporters

With the NFL making in-game interviews a requirement for coaches this season, Jamie Erdahl is urging reporters to do better with their questions.

The revamped edition of Good Morning Football premiered Monday morning for NFL Network. And during the show’s debut from Los Angeles, Erdahl, Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt and new co-host Akbar Gbajabiamila discussed words or phrases that should be thrown in the garbage.

“This is a part of the sideline reporter pact. Please don’t say ‘tell me about,’” Erdahl ranted. “’Coach, tell me about.’ Don’t do it! You cannot start ‘tell me about’ and then end it with a question. It’s physically impossible, it’s grammatically incorrect, don’t do it.”

While I agree with Erdahl’s overall point, I do believe following “tell me about” with a question betters the phrase even if it isn’t grammatically correct. Following “tell me about” with an open-ended statement, however, deserves a penalty.

“Tell me about your first drive of the second half, why didn’t you go for it on fourth-and-2?” is fine. “Tell me about your first drive of the second half” is not.

It’s not just “tell me about.” Colin Cowherd’s “what say you?” crutch should be retired from interviews. And then there’s Joe Benigno… whose questions sound like this:

“Coach, the offense scored three touchdowns in the first half. Aaron was playing like Super Bowl Aaron and then you punted it from the 48 on your first drive of the second half even though the run game was working. Breece Hall had two big runs on that drive and he would have had another if it wasn’t for that stupid holding penalty – I cannot stand when the officials throw a flag just for the sake of throwing a flag. I thought that drive stalled the offense. And I know I even texted you this from golf course Sunday morning, coach, ‘Garrett Wilson caught a 30-yard touchdown pass on fourth down two weeks ago, get him the ball.’ How ’bout that?”

The above quote is completely made-up, but it’s not exaggerated. Benigno’s “how ’bout that?” may have morphed into schtick, but it makes for a terrible interview question. At least Benigno, Cowherd, and all sports radio hosts benefit from the ability to course correct with a follow up question. Sideline reporters might only have one shot at getting a quote in-game. Sideline reporting is a really hard job. Don’t make it harder by depending on the coach or player to guess the question before they answer it.

[ GMFB ]

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