The NFL keeps giving us ‘all-access’ content that lacks access

The NFL keeps giving us ‘all-access’ content that lacks access

I’m old enough to recall when “behind-the-scenes” meant exactly what it said, since the access being offered was novel. However, in the NFL, “all-access” frequently implies limited entrance.

According to a recent New York Post report, the NFL may have hidden recordings of Travis Kelce’s comments to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid after bumping him during the Super Bowl.

“Two persons well-connected in the sports media business informed The Post that they believe the Chiefs prevented NFL Films — which captured the mic’d up audio — and “Inside the NFL” from airing the actual Kelce sound bite, with one claiming that this injunction came from Reid.

A representative for “Inside the NFL” declined to comment, while representatives for the Chiefs and NFL Media (which operates NFL Films) did not reply to The Post’s requests for comment.

A lip reader told The Post that he thought Kelce said, “Hey, come on, you f-ker, put me on.”

Kelce, however, has already confessed that he was aware that this would occur at some point.

“Oh, did you guys see that? Man, it was… I’m going to leave it between us unless my mic’d-up tells the world, but I was just telling him how much I love him,” Kelce stated after the game in which he scolded his coach and nearly knocked him down.

Kelce has accepted responsibility for his blunder in the days following the game.

“Big Red, sorry if I caught you with that cheap shot, baby,” he stated on his show. “I can’t get so pumped up that I’m shoving the coach and throwing him off balance and whatnot. “When he stumbled, I was like ‘Oh (expletive)’ in my head.” he explained.

At this time, it appears that if the tape is ever leaked, it will be through TMZ, as the gossip source has a history of doing so – remember the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident? But the main point here isn’t just that we didn’t obtain the Kelce audio; it’s that this situation is the latest example of the NFL being overly protective.

The league restricted access to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his annual Super Bowl press conference just days before Kelce’s incident on the field. In a cowardly move, the league rescheduled the event for Monday, when press attendance is lowest, and made it invitation-only.

It was proof of the Jim Trotter effect.

Last year, NFL Media declined to renew Trotter’s contract after he questioned Goodell about the league’s inadequate diversity initiatives at two consecutive Super Bowl press conferences. Even though Trotter was not there, the league still lacks diversity, despite the recent hire of three Black head coaches.

Ultimately, Goodell was still interrogated.

“As of this press conference, the NFL Media newsroom still employs zero Black managers, zero Black copy editors, zero full-time Black employees on the news desk, and your only full-time Black employee, Larry Campbell, passed away over the weekend,” Darren Smith, of KLKC Radio, told Goodell during the press conference. “How does knowing this sit well with you, and after two years of being asked this question, why has there not been any change or any hirings in that area?”

Instead of absorbing the heat, as he is paid to do, the league restricted access to the vast majority of the press in an unsuccessful attempt to protect Goodell. That is why HBO’s Hard Knocks has fallen off a cliff, as the “all-access” docuseries has rarely offered audiences the inside scoop on what we expected to see or witness in its early seasons. Last year, the New York Jets appeared on the show. However, before to the first episode airing, there were speculations that the franchise would not allow the camera teams free run.

“They forced it down our throats, and we have to deal with it,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers on KPIX.

From sideline sound bits to footage of players in team facilities to limiting who can and cannot ask Roger Goodell questions, the previous several months have been a case study in how the country’s most popular and wealthy sports league develops itself. On the one hand, it makes complete business sense. On the other side, it seems like misleading advertising. So, when it comes to the NFL, let’s stop calling it “all-access” and instead refer to it as what it is: a public relations spin.

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