Earlier this week, Mike Florio took to social media to dispute Adam Schefter’s account of the alleged incident that led to the Las Vegas Raiders releasing Christian Wilkins.
So why did the ESPN insider report a story that is different from the one that Florio says is making the rounds privately? The Pro Football Talk founder has a theory.
During Tuesday’s episode of PFT Live, Florio discussed the situation with co-host Chris Simms. And when explaining why he believes that Schefter relayed the story that he did, Florio pointed to Wilkins’ agent, David Mulugheta.
“Christian Wilkins has representation that is charged with finding him a job. So what do you do? You work the angles. You work your sources,” Florio said. “Let’s call it what it is: David Mulugheta represents Christian Wilkins. He’s working Schefty to get Schefty to put a story out there that is favorable to Christian Wilkins. Let’s just say what that is. ‘Let’s put a favorable story out there so someone else will pay him a lot of money.’ That’s how it works.
“Why does the reporter do it? Because it pays off on the backend. For example, when Micah Parsons signs his contract, Schefter may be the first one to report it now. Because it’s the same agent representing both guys. That’s the transactional nature of the insider game. Every once in a while you eat a little sh*t, you push something that may not be accurate or you let somebody tell you a lie that you put out there because you know they’ll owe you one and they’ll make it up to you on the backend because that other stuff doesn’t really get notice and scrutinized the way it should. That happens. That’s the game. And he’s not the only one who plays it. They all play it, and it’s one of the reasons why I don’t.”
For the uninitiated, Florio’s comments refer to the version of events that Schefter shared on Monday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, when asked about the unusual circumstances surrounding Wilkins’ surprise release.
“What’s everybody dancing around and tip-toeing around, when you speak to people there, they say that Christian playfully went to kiss a teammate on top of his head,” Schefter said. “Those same people said that player took offense to it. That’s what everybody has been dancing around, an incident in the locker room where he allegedly, playfully kissed a teammate on top of the head, and that’s what a lot of this talk has been about.”
In a reply on social media, Florio wrote, “That is definitely NOT the story that has been making the rounds.” Florio, however, has yet to reveal the version of the story that he and others have heard.
As for the allegation that Schefter is softening the story as a favor to Wilkins’ agent, he’s hardly the first reporter to be accused of such practices in what many have seemingly accepted as a necessary component of the insider game. Now all eyes shift to whether the other version of the Wilkins story will ever be made public — and, for some, who will break the news of Parsons’ impending contract extension.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.