"Please Don't Put Words in My Mouth" - Eagles Reporters Successfully Turn Nothing Burger Into Ridiculous Press Conference
Normally we wouldn’t give a rat’s ass what Brett Favre thinks about the Eagles’ quarterback situation, but this one is slightly different.
It’s slightly different because Favre is very close with Doug Pederson, who backed him up for years in Green Bay, and also because Carson Wentz grew up in North Dakota as a Favre fan. The Hall of Fame quarterback threw 336 career interceptions, so he’s also very qualified to comment on Wentz’s turnover issues.
Tuesday, Favre was on ESPN’s First Take when he said he felt like the Eagles should have kept Nick Foles following the 2018 season. Today, Pederson was understandably asked about those comments, and what started out as something innocuous turned into one of the most nonsensical press conferences of the season.
Doug’s first answer:
“I respect Brett’s opinion. We are friends but I haven’t talked to him and he’s entitled to that. That’s about it.”
Fine, nothing wrong with that. Everybody can have their opinion.
But later in the press conference, he was asked by Les Bowen if he wanted to clarify, so as to not make it seem like he agreed with Favre:
Doug’s second answer:
“I respect Brett’s opinion. He’s entitled to his opinion. That’s fine. I’ll leave it at that.”
Again, nothing wrong with that.
But guess what? At the very end of the presser, he was asked if he wanted a third shot at the same question, to which he replied:
Doug Pederson ends with this comment regarding Brett Favre’s opinion that Eagles should have kept Nick Foles over Carson Wentz. pic.twitter.com/JAeAckE4rI
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) November 11, 2020
That’s ridiculous and borderline embarrassing. He doesn’t need to be asked the same question THREE DIFFERENT TIMES. The original answer was fine. The second answer was fine. It’s Favre’s opinion. He’s entitled to it. It doesn’t mean Pederson agrees with it.
Holy shit, what world are we living in?
Doug has spent the entire season sticking up for Carson Wentz and didn’t yank him when he threw two picks and fumbled twice in the Dallas game. He stuck with his guy. He didn’t put the 2nd round draft pick in. Pederson doesn’t need to come out with some fake “rah rah” answer in response to a not-very-important Brett Favre opinion, and it’s a fallacy to think that a coach has to “stick up for his guy” or whatever that opinion is. It’s overrated.
Imagine asking the same series of questions to somebody else in a different sport, like this:
Reporter 1: “Hey Doc Rivers, Magic Johnson said he thinks the Sixers should trade Ben Simmons. What do you think about that?”
Doc Rivers: “Well that’s his opinion and he’s entitled to it.”
Reporter 2: “Would you like to try answering that question again?”
Rivers: “Magic Johnson is entitled to his opinion. No problems. It’s all good.”
Reporter 3: “Are you sure? Do you feel the need to clarify so that people don’t think you’re agreeing with Magic Johnson?”
Rivers: “Holy fuck, what do you want from me? Magic Johnson is entitled to his opinion. Everybody can have an opinion. The end, thank you.”
It’s insane. We start with a nothing burger, turn it into a something burger, and now it’s the biggest story of the day.
Case in point:
After hearing that press conference…
Does Doug Pederson think Carson Wentz is “his guy” as the quarterback of the Eagles?
— Middays w/ Bob Cooney (@975Middays) November 11, 2020
So on and so forth. This is how you turn nothing into something, and the cycle continues, because apparently there’s nothing else worth talking about.