The Headlines Read One Thing, The Story Is Another
By Brian Miller
Waking up this morning I was pelted with Emails about what I have heard about the future of Jason Taylor. 31 Emails to be exact. My first thought was that the Email delivery service was slow and these were from a month ago, only to find out of course that two local Miami newspapers are reporting that JT will publicly announce his desire to play elsewhere and be traded. Once I opened the articles however, I learned the content was far from the Headline that described it.
So, what do I think about JT publicly demanding a trade? Well, I guess like the two media reporters who have said he will do it, I too will find out at 11:30 Am today should the presser be carried live on any of the sports networks. Although i believe that there is no way that JT will play again for the Dolphins, I would be surprised if he took his request to the streets.
Over on the Miami Herald, the article is blistering with a Sunday morning headline that reads: Dance to the end: Taylor wants to be traded. Armando Salguero is the author of this brilliant work depicting a bunch of what ifs rather than content the title would imply. Salguero does a wonderful job of mincing his words delicately so that after everything is said and done, should JT not open his mouth and “request a trade” Salguero has a way out. Consider the bombshell itself. The whole enchilada of the article.
At a news conference scheduled for 11:30 a.m., Taylor is expected to finally deliver the message that until now has come to the Dolphins from his agent. Right there, in front of cameras and tape recorders, completely on the record, Taylor will be asked whether he wants to be traded.
Wow. I particularly like the part that says, Taylor will be asked. Of course he is going to be asked. In fact, he will be asked more than once. Especially if he declines to comment on the first go around. He follows that up with this gem.
And if he is honest, and the mood is right, and reporters accept no equivocation, Taylor will say he wants to be traded from the Dolphins to a contending team.
Solid reporting there Armando. The problem with this article is that it still opinion based and although it sounds like there is a deep penetrating source in the organization or JT’s life, the fact is that Armando not once cites a source for his information. Something that anyone familiar with his writing will point out that he does every chance he gets.
Apparently though, this process of sensationalism doesn’t stop there. The Sun-Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov has his two cents as well with this lovely title. “Source: Jason Taylor expected to request a trade Sunday”
Now, I tend to like Fialkov’s stuff, especially is accounts of practices, although I will admit to being more a reader of Omar Kelly’s. In this case, it seems that like the Herald article, the Sentinel article is about as reliable. The title hardly fits the content.
The first part of this article concerns the reactions from current Miami Dolphins players who have played with JT and their opinions on him. In fact, only the 2nd paragraph has anything to do with the headline.
They’ll be even more surprised when, according to sources, Taylor will publicly request a trade to a contender Sunday when he addresses the five-month running soap opera at an 11:30 a.m. press conference at Hard Rock Live.
The entire article from that point is Taylor comments from the past week at another gold tournament but mostly quotes from current teammates on their opinions of the Taylor situation. After that paragraph, nothing more is said about todays press conference, at least Harvey, unlike Armando, actually said “according to sources“, which is good I guess considering the headline.
I truly believe that Jason will either retire or be traded and in all honesty, I think that a trade is unlikely. The Herald article states that JT will announce he will only play one more year. If those words are said, a trade is out of the question. No team will give up anything near what Bill Parcells reportedly wants for the guy. That leaves a return to Miami or a return to Los Angeles. The Herald article says that JT has a 4.5 million dollar film offer on the table for a movie shooting in October. I would plan on him being at that shoot.
Jason may very well decide to answer the tougher questions honestly. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least if he announced today exactly what these two newspaper guys are stating, but even if that is the case, next time maybe these “media” guys will learn to write about what their title is instead of just getting the “click” for a page hit.