After a two-week hiatus, the Grantland NFL podcast with Bill Barnwell and Robert Mays returned on Monday, recapping Week 7 of the season. The podcast hadn’t posted a new episode since Oct. 13, missing its regular slot five times. However, Barnwell didn’t leave fans completely hanging, letting them know on Twitter when there wouldn’t be a show.
No podcast today.
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 14, 2015
But where was the Grantland NFL podcast? Why hadn’t there been any new episodes since Oct. 13? Well… that’s been a source of intrigue, especially with Barnwell’s simple, yet cryptic tweets. xxx
No podcast today. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 16, 2015
Even on Oct. 13, when the last podcast has been posted, there seemed to be some question as to whether or not it would be available. At the time, Barnwell attributed that to “audio tech issues.”
Hey – no podcast today. ESPN audio tech issues. Forgive us this one time. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 12, 2015
On the day the podcast in question went up, Barnwell’s Grantland colleague Rembert Browne posted this teaser of a tweet, which basically explained the problem:
I just want Fierman, Fennessey, Juliet, Chris and Mallory to know that you mean the world to @billbarnwell and @robertmays. — Rembert Browne (@rembert) October 13, 2015
OK, but everyone at Grantland presumably wished the best to departing editors Dan Fierman, Sean Fennessey, Juliet Litman, Chris Ryan and Mallory Rubin. Right? It must have been that Barnwell was in Brooklyn while the rest of the gang was in Los Angeles. Right? Well, yes — but Barnwell did send his regard and give a proper farewell.
My man @billbarnwell sent cake for @julietlitman, @sean_fennessey, @ChrisRyan77, and @MalloryRubin‘s last day and now I’m almost crying.
— fierman (@fierman) October 16, 2015
Meanwhile, still no Grantland NFL podcast from Barnwell and Mays.
No podcast today. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 19, 2015
As it turns out, there were indeed issues behind the scenes that kept the podcast from being released that day. But they weren’t really of a technological nature. ESPN oracle Jim Miller had the scoop, posting this report:
Sources: Tributes on pods to departed @Grantland33 personnel were cut by @ChrisConnelly who liked them but not for site’s platforms. — James Andrew Miller (@JimMiller) October 19, 2015
Former Grantland editor-in-chief even alluded to this on his own podcast, released on Oct. 13, though no one may have quite known what he was referring to at the time. Here’s what he said:
“There might have been a couple of Grantland people that said nice things about [the departing Grantlanders] on a podcast, and it might have been edited out by people who work over there, so I wanted to pass along those sentiments from some of the people at Grantland, too.”
Between Simmons’ remarks and Miller’s tweet, fans soon figured out what had happened and expressed support to Barnwell and Mays.
Want to thank everyone for the kind e-mails/tweets we’ve gotten over the past couple of weeks. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 20, 2015
However, the podcast silence continued.
No podcast today. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 21, 2015
No podcast today. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 23, 2015
But the seal was finally broken on Monday. And the podcast opened with these remarks, probably pretty close to what was originally cut from the Oct. 13. episode:
Barnwell: So as I was saying… we have four editors who left us at Grantland a couple of weeks ago. Sean Fennessey, Juliet Litman, Mallory Rubin, Chris Ryan and then Dan Fierman all left, and it was a real disappointment. They are very near and dear to our hearts, they’re people who helped Grantland grow, and more importantly — at least in my perspective — helped me grow and I’m sure also helped you grow as well, Mays.
Mays: I certainly wouldn’t be anything close to whatever it is I am without those people. And I will forever be indebted to them. It’s impossible to overstate how important they’ve been in my life.
Barnwell: Yeah, personally and professionally, they’ve been great human beings and we were really blessed to have them in our lives. And we will miss them as they move on to different pastures. We are going to continue to do the best work we can here at Grantland.
That wasn’t so bad — was it, Chris Connelly? Maybe those remarks were different than what was cut and this ended up being approved. Or Connelly realized how petty, insecure and oppressive it was to bring down that hammer to begin with. Seriously, what was the harm? The Grantland staff are human beings and their fans relate to them. What was wrong with expressing some sentiment everyone involved wanted to hear?
Having Browne as the guest may also have been an envelope-pushing move, since he’s set to depart Grantland at the end of October and will move to New York magazine. Maybe that was meant to set the powers-that-be on edge. But having settled this silly issue with management, Barnwell, Mays and Browne didn’t cause any further ruckus. (And was any ruckus really caused to begin with?) The trio then went on to discuss Browne’s beloved Atlanta Falcons (now 6-1) and the absence of smoking sections in restaurants.
Apparently, this long, silly national nightmare is now over.
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