Jonathan Vilma calls out ESPN for planning secret ‘character study’ of him

ESPN was apparently planning to air what they called a “character study TV feature” on Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma this weekend, only it seems they didn’t want Vilma to know about it. Whoever was in charge of the project did a lousy job of keeping it under wraps. As part of the study, an ESPN feature producer named Barry Abrams reached out to one of Vilma’s former teammates with the Jets, retired linebacker Eric Barton. As you can see from the photo below that Vilma posted on his Twitter account Wednesday night, Barton decided to share the letter with his buddy.

Needless to say, Barton’s decision made Abrams’ life extremely difficult. Many of Vilma’s 100,000-plus Twitter followers began blowing up Abrams’ cell phone and writing him emails. Everyone from third grade teachers to office workers began tweeting Vilma to let him know that they were going to have multiple people call and/or email Abrams on Thursday. One person said they were going to tell ESPN about the time Vilma saved their dog from a bear attack at the zoo. Another said Abrams’ voicemail was full and encouraged everyone to switch over to emailing.

We’ve blurred out Abrams’ contact info as to not fuel the fire, but it is all available on Vilma’s Twitter page anyhow.

As you might expect, Vilma appears to be loving every second of it. Saints fans have been through enough over the past several months between the infamous bounty scandal and their 0-3 start to the 2012 season. The last thing irritated fans need is an avenue to air out their frustrations, but Abrams, Barton and Vilma have given them just that.

Photo credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE