Get a Fall Guy: Carter, Klemko & The Rookie Symposium

[Hoya81]

Robert Klemko from MMQB covered the NFC rookie symposium last year, but failed to record Carter's comments in his article.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/07/09/nfl-rookie-symposium-part-2

He says today he agreed to keep the quote out to placate the NFL.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1snahig

 

[CoolPapaBellhorn]

Robert Klemko from MMQB covered the NFC rookie symposium last year, but failed to record Carter's comments in his article.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/07/09/nfl-rookie-symposium-part-2

He says today he agreed to keep the quote out to placate the NFL.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1snahig

 

 
 
Through the sheer incompetence of the NFL, which posted the video of Carter's talk online, my decision to withhold that info has now come to light. If faced with the same decision again, I would have to think long and hard about the choice. Bottom line: I need to be tougher.

 
Someone else well-connected to league sources (in this case, through MMQB), comes out firing at the NFL. He even named the NFL exec (Kim Fields) who told him that he couldn't publish the quote.
 
The longer stories like this keep coming out, the harder it's going to be for the media that they've been using to continue to allow themselves to be used.

 

[ifmanis5]

Robert Klemko from MMQB covered the NFC rookie symposium last year, but failed to record Carter's comments in his article.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/07/09/nfl-rookie-symposium-part-2

He says today he agreed to keep the quote out to placate the NFL.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1snahig

Of fucking course.
 
Really looking fwd to Borland's tell all book next year. He's got retirement balls already.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

So he's told not to publish the quote, but they post the entire video on their web site? Makes sense. 

 

[RG33]

So he's told not to publish the quote, but they post the entire video on their web site? Makes sense.

It is almost like the NFL is run by a bunch of incompetent fools who can't get out of their own way.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Oddly, Carter wasn't on Mike & Mike today.

 

[Shelterdog]

 
 
Someone else well-connected to league sources (in this case, through MMQB), comes out firing at the NFL. He even named the NFL exec (Kim Fields) who told him that he couldn't publish the quote.
 
The longer stories like this keep coming out, the harder it's going to be for the media that they've been using to continue to allow themselves to be used.

 
I fucking hate Klemko.  He has a dynamite story but he publish it until it's too late.  And then he's like "lesson learned" but what's he going to do next time?

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

 
I fucking hate Klemko.  He has a dynamite story but he publish it until it's too late.  And then he's like "lesson learned" but what's he going to do next time?

 
This is my favorite part:
 
"I loved the Carter quote for how outlandish and idiotic it was, but I didn't see it as emblematic of the symposium." 
 
An NFL representative is telling rookies to do something illegal, but he doesn't think it's a big deal. 

 

[kenneycb]

It's not illegal to have a designated fall guy in your crew.

 

[Average Reds]

It's not illegal to have a designated fall guy in your crew.

 
If the designated fall guy exists to take the blame for your criminal transgressions, that is most certainly illegal.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

"Emblematic of the symposium" I take it means that they didn't have banners or a slide deck advocating having a fall guy. 

 

[kenneycb]

 
If the designated fall guy exists to take the blame for your criminal transgressions, that is most certainly illegal.

Only until you do something illegal and/or get caught. I don't think it's bad advice regardless since he's basically just talking about guys with weed. Can't really have a fall guy for DUIs, domestic violence and the like.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Only until you do something illegal and/or get caught. I don't think it's bad advice regardless since he's basically just talking about guys with weed. Can't really have a fall guy for DUIs, domestic violence and the like.

 
See Lewis, Ray

 

[Shelterdog]

In 2014 Klemko wrote this:
 
Carter: “There's no hiding crimes anymore. Everybody is TMZ.”
 
Sapp: “Even the ones in your crew.”
 
Carter: “Say that again, bro.”
 
Sapp: “Even the ones in your crew.
 
Writing this--and leaving the impression the symposium is convincing players not to break the law when you're telling them to get fake alibis--is misleading in the extreme.

 

[bankshot1]

It's not illegal to have a designated fall guy in your crew.

JJ or McNally?

 

[ifmanis5]

Speaking of Sapp and TMZ: http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/01/warren-sapp-new-charges-blow-hooker-deal-faces-hard-time-in-az/
 
Sapp didn't take his own advice. Should have pinned his hookers and domestic problems on somebody else. Maybe Bill Cosby?

 

[Average Reds]

Only until you do something illegal and/or get caught. I don't think it's bad advice regardless since he's basically just talking about guys with weed. Can't really have a fall guy for DUIs, domestic violence and the like.
 

 
The hypotheticals being talked about by Sapp and Carter in the video ("...driving 93 mph, at 2 am, with a gun underneath the seat ..") are most certainly crimes.  Which makes Carter's advice ("and just in case y'all not gonna decide to do the right thing ... you got to have a fall guy in your crew...") criminal as well.
 
I mean, it's kind of a silly debate about completely moronic advice being given by absolute idiots.  But let's be blunt:  Carter is absolutely advising players to commit a crime (obstruction of justice, false statements to law enforcement, etc.) as a backup plan in case anything goes wrong.
 
I do admire your tenacity in ignoring facts while debating.  Perhaps there's a place for you at the MMQB.

 

[Myt1]

Only until you do something illegal and/or get caught. I don't think it's bad advice regardless since he's basically just talking about guys with weed. Can't really have a fall guy for DUIs, domestic violence and the like.

Of course you can for DUIs. Passengers cop to driving all the time.

I don't think there's a reasonable interpretation of Carter's comments that doesn't involve at least obstruction of justice, especially given that the follow up was, "We'll bail him out."

 

[E5 Yaz]

Is it worth $50 to ask King directly about all this:
 
Last note, speaking of interesting things for good causes: On Sept. 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston, I’ll be previewing the NFL season with a panel of NFL authorities: former Patriots tackle and all-around bon vivantMatt Light, Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated, Ron Borges of the Boston Herald, Albert Breer of NFL Network and NFL.com, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. For $50, you’ll be the first to taste Harpoon’s new brew and one very near and dear to me, The MMQB Saison; and you’ll get two glasses of any Harpoon beer, an etched commemorative glass, and a Harpoon pretzel.

 

[jacklamabe65]

Is it worth $50 to ask King directly about all this:
 
Last note, speaking of interesting things for good causes: On Sept. 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston, I’ll be previewing the NFL season with a panel of NFL authorities: former Patriots tackle and all-around bon vivantMatt Light, Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated, Ron Borges of the Boston Herald, Albert Breer of NFL Network and NFL.com, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. For $50, you’ll be the first to taste Harpoon’s new brew and one very near and dear to me, The MMQB Saison; and you’ll get two glasses of any Harpoon beer, an etched commemorative glass, and a Harpoon pretzel.

We need a plant there; that's for sure.

 

[caminante11]

Aaron Hernandez had a couple of Fall Guys but it didn't work out too well for him.

 

[lars10]

Aaron Hernandez had a couple of Fall Guys but it didn't work out too well for him.

Carter in his symposium in 2015: Don't kill your fall guy.. I mean he wasn't repeating having a fall guy!

 

[kenneycb]

Of course you can for DUIs. Passengers cop to driving all the time.

I don't think there's a reasonable interpretation of Carter's comments that doesn't involve at least obstruction of justice, especially given that the follow up was, "We'll bail him out."

How do they do that exactly? I'm assuming they're not doing the old switcharoo while driving or pulled over.

 

[mwonow]

Robert Klemko from MMQB covered the NFC rookie symposium last year, but failed to record Carter's comments in his article.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/07/09/nfl-rookie-symposium-part-2

He says today he agreed to keep the quote out to placate the NFL.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1snahig

 
I love that Klemko published his "explanation" in a forum that doesn't provide a means of adding comments. Those MMQBers...they are all honourable men...

 

[Leather]

How do they do that exactly? I'm assuming they're not doing the old switcharoo while driving or pulled over.

They do it after being involved in an accident before the cops show up.

I've been called as a witness to testify that a drunk driver was actually the driver because he was on his third offense and he and his wife claimed that he was actually the passenger.

 

[twothousandone]

Lance Armstrong says hi.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2015/02/18/lance-armstrong-pleads-guilty-to-careless-driving-in-aspen/23619423/

Detectives later interviewed Hansen, who eventually told them Armstrong was driving but the couple had decided to let her take the blame.

 

[soxhop411]

https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/635956927160320000

 

[Average Reds]

Easy to say when the idiot on stage with you couldn't even follow it.

Carter needs to go away and STFU about everything.

 

[Mugsy's Walk-Off Bunt]

Not suspended by ESPN. Cue the "Well if Brady would've just apologized like Cris..." crowd...

 

[Doug Beerabelli]

Not suspended by ESPNFL. Cue the "Well if Brady would've just apologized like Cris..." crowd...

FTFY

 

[pappymojo]

When he said "we'll bail him out" who is the we? Was it the NFL? Carter was being paid by the NFL was he not?

 

[E5 Yaz]

Peter King has found the real victim in this ... it's Peter King! He's on a Twitter bender defending himself
 
Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing  4h4 hours agoManhattan, NY
I stand 100% behind @RobertKlemko. Great young reporter who made a decision those on front line often have to make.
 
Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing  3h3 hours ago
I would have made the same call.

 

[GBrushTWood]

Is it worth $50 to ask King directly about all this:
 
Last note, speaking of interesting things for good causes: On Sept. 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston, I’ll be previewing the NFL season with a panel of NFL authorities: former Patriots tackle and all-around bon vivantMatt Light, Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated, Ron Borges of the Boston Herald, Albert Breer of NFL Network and NFL.com, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. For $50, you’ll be the first to taste Harpoon’s new brew and one very near and dear to me, The MMQB Saison; and you’ll get two glasses of any Harpoon beer, an etched commemorative glass, and a Harpoon pretzel.

 
I wouldn't pay money to listen to those asswipes (sans Light and Bedard) blathering with each other, but I would be interested in hearing King's in person response if someone asked him:
Peter - In the last 12 months, you or your websites' reporting sources have burned you with incorrect information on at least 3 separate occasions, often to enhance the NFL's public image. This seems to be a trend. Can you explain how you and your website are not extended third parties of NFL public relations, but an independent website?"
 
Now that I think about it, the best he would ever do to respond to this question is proclaim "we've got to do better". Does that sound familiar to anyone else? It's taken straight from the insincere apology playbook of the Red Devil himself, Goodell. Do these insincere pricks ever "do better"? Based on what I have seen: nope.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Or, he'd say this:
 
https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/635933898086699009

 

[Marciano490]

Peter King has found the real victim in this ... it's Peter King! He's on a Twitter bender defending himself
 
Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing   [URL="https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/635922475818307584

https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/635922475818307584"]4h4

link to tweet hours ago[/url]Manhattan, NY
I stand 100% behind @RobertKlemko. Great young reporter who made a decision those on front line often have to make.
 
Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing  [URL="https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/635930101310484480

https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/635930101310484480"]3h3

link to tweet hours ago[/url]
I would have made the same call.

Love the war analogy.

 

[E5 Yaz]

"On the front line." ... He was sitting in an auditorium, taking notes. The "front line" was a league PR type telling Klemko not to publish it.

 

[pappymojo]

Did anyone doubt that King would have done the same thing?

 

[E5 Yaz]

PK's answer, "Reporters I'm endlessly proud of," came to this question:
 
@SI_PeterKing what kind of reporters are you employing? Klemko with this and his taxicab fight. Benoit and his sexist comments.

 

[djbayko]

When he said "we'll bail him out" who is the we? Was it the NFL? Carter was being paid by the NFL was he not?

I'm about 99.9999% sure he was role playing an active player and talking about him and his entourage...not current day Cris Carter or any of his related organizations.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

You know you're a dufus when Plexico Burress makes more sense than you:
 
@plaxicoburress
Wow! I guess I didn't have a "fall guy". @NFL #rookiesymposium
 

@plaxicoburress
In all seriousness, I've made some choices that have resulted in some consequences that I can never get back. BUT, not one time did I blame
 

@plaxicoburress
Someone else. I've always stood up, been accountable, and accepted full responsibility for my actions.

 

[Myt1]

Easy to say when the idiot on stage with you couldn't even follow it.

Carter needs to go away and STFU about everything.

"I would never do . . . what I actually did . . . on tape."

 

[Myt1]

"On the front line." ... He was sitting in an auditorium, taking notes. The "front line" was a league PR type telling Klemko not to publish it.

The AC might have been a little too high.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Just what this story needs ... Stephen A Smith
 
https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/635908475143520256
 
Roger Goodell have you no shame?

 

[koufax32]

Is his "anger" directed at the light reaction to Carter's comments or the NFL's Stalinist control of media? Either way it is a hilariously, ridiculously hypocritical thing to say. So much so that it either takes a complete lack of awareness, brazenness, or ineptness. I'll just leave that there.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

 
https://twitter.com/WWIIFelger/status/635929695679332353
 
@SI_PeterKing @RobertKlemko front line? He's riding on a bus fetching you triple shot espressos, not jumping into occupied France.

 

[Marciano490]

If he was really on the front lines, King would've asked him how many people he killed.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Is his "anger" directed at the light reaction to Carter's comments or the NFL's Stalinist control of media? Either way it is a hilariously, ridiculously hypocritical thing to say. So much so that it either takes a complete lack of awareness, brazenness, or ineptness. I'll just leave that there.

 
Well, at least we know who's not getting called the next time Tom Brady destroys his cellphone

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

If he was really on the front lines, King would've asked him how many people he killed.

The ability of you guys to recall the perfect past Pete faux pas to tie into the next at a moments notice, has given me hours of entertainment. A collective thank you to you all.

 

[OnWisc]

If he was really on the front lines, King would've asked him how many people he killed.

If King were really on the front lines, he'd be justifying his reports of an Iraq victory by the fact that he really felt the Iraqi information minister believed what he was saying.

 

[E5 Yaz]

If he was really on the front lines, King would've asked him how many people he killed.

 
This is just so understatedly wonderful