I’m old enough to remember when “behind-the-scenes” actually meant what it claims, as the access that was being granted was a novelty. But, in the case of the NFL, “all-access” too often feels like limited entry.
A recent report from the New York Post details how the audio of what Travis Kelce said to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid after he bumped him during the Super Bowl may have been allegedly buried by the NFL. Two people highly plugged into the sports media business suspect the Chiefs blocked NFL Films and “Inside the NFL” from airing the direct Kelce sound bite. A lip reader told The Post that he believed Kelce said, “Hey, come on, you f–ker, put me on.”
Days before Kelce’s situation took place on the field, the league restricted access to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his annual press conference at the Super Bowl. The league moved the event to Monday and made it invite-only, showing a trend of the NFL being extremely guarded. Last year, NFL Media didn’t renew Jim Trotter’s contract after he grilled Goodell about the league’s lackluster diversity efforts at consecutive Super Bowl press conferences.
Instead of taking the heat like he’s paid to do, the league narrowed access to a large majority of the press in a failed attempt to shield Goodell. This thinking is why HBO’s Hard Knocks has fallen off a cliff, as the “all-access” docuseries has rarely given fans the inside scoop on things we thought we’d see in its early seasons.
From sideline sound bites to footage of players in team facilities to limiting who can and can’t ask Roger Goodell questions, the last few months have been a case study on how the country’s most popular and profitable sports league incubates itself. On one hand, it makes perfect business sense, but on the other hand, it feels like false advertising. So when it comes to the NFL, let’s stop calling it “all-access” and refer to it as what it really is — a PR spin.
