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Washington Post in the Early Running for Worst Headline of the Year

Kevin Kinkead

By Kevin Kinkead

Published:


Longtime NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer died on Monday night at the age of 77. He had been battling Alzheimer’s disease.

Schottenheimer won more than 200 games with four different NFL franchises and led his teams to double-digit victories on more than 11 occasions. He has a deeply rooted coaching tree with myriad branches and is a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.

Here’s how the Washington Post chose to memorialize him:

Man that is rough. Talk about a raw deal. How are you gonna do a guy dirty like that after he dies?

Yes, it’s true that Schottenheimer had a dismal postseason record. His teams were 5-13 over the years and he never got over the hump, but putting that in the headline is gross.

The WAPO updated the story, which now reads as such:

There ya go. That’s more like it.

The last time a headline this bad was written at the Inquirer, the newsroom rebelled. I wonder if the same thing happens here or if the WAPO just acts like it didn’t happen. They’ll probably do the latter. This is the same shop that called an ISIS terrorist an “austere religious scholar” after American forces killed him. Same shop where Felicia Sonmez tweeted about Kobe Bryant’s rape case immediately after his death, and then her colleagues revolted when she was suspended. What a mess that was.

Swing and a miss here from the WAPO.

Kevin Kinkead

Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com

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