Kevin Blackistone thinks ESPN shouldn't hire Ray Lewis
In the wake of today's report from Sports Illustrated related to Ray Lewis and deer antler spray, Kevin Blackistone went off on Around the Horn today. Blackistone said that ESPN, which is hiring Ray Lewis after his playing career ends as an analyst, should rescind their offer because of Lewis' refusal to answer questions about the article at the Super Bowl Media Day today.
It's a little ridiculous for Blackistone to say that ESPN is hiring Lewis to be a "journalist" considering that Lewis is going to have little to no journalistic role with ESPN. He's going to be analyzing what happens on the field. And to be fair to Lewis, it's not as if he gave a "no comment" in regards to the story. He said that he dealt with the same report two years ago, it wasn't worth his time then, and it wasn't worth his time now.
I'm not really sure what Blackistone wants from Lewis days before the Super Bowl, aside from maybe some sort of exclusive interview. But for him to start preaching about journalistic integrity in regards to someone who isn't even being hired to be a journalist is a stretch.
They shouldn't hire him because he can't put a coherent sentence together. Ray makes Shannon Sharpe and Phil Simms (CBS) sound like geniuses.
Wait a minute...ESPN hires journalists and not just opinionated, know-nothing blowhards? That's news to me.
I'll give him credit for biting the hand that feeds him. Not many on ESPN would dare question the almighty ESPN. He's right, Lewis will be a sideshow--he'll be like Warren Sapp on NFLNet--an awful commentator with no real contribution except to be the "wacky" guy. Kudos to Blackistone, but it still won't make me tune in for that trainwreck of a show.
Funny on so many levels. a) espn hasn't formally hired him yet. He hasn't even formally retired. b) this all just popped up today. No need to go HAM on your employer just yet before letting things play out. c) Maybe he should be concerned with the wrongful death suits he settled out of court than this. d) Is Jerry Rice a journalist? Is Hugh Douglass? Does being on ESPN make you a journalist? Although I appreciate the thumbing your nose at ESPN with journalistic integrity in mind, Blackistone is grandstanding. Love the faces of the other panelists....
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Wait, wait, wait... he thinks ESPN shouldn't hire him because he wouldn't answer some questions about steroids and NOT because Lewis was involved in the murder of two people? Yep, Blackistone has the meaning of journalistic integrity perfectly defined.
