ESPN has faced a lot of criticism for airing a personal moment from the New York Jets’ Week 7 game against the New England Patriots, and it appears there could be some consequences for the network.
Sam Darnold wore a microphone for ESPN during his team’s 33-0 loss to New England, and he admitted at one point that he was “seeing ghosts” on the field. The Jets quarterback has been mocked relentlessly over the comment, including during last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After ESPN decided to air Darnold’s remark, New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur was among those who said he is not a fan of players and coaches wearing microphones during games and that “there’s things that get said that should be internal.” With the Giants facing the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football this week, Shurmur said he will not wear a mic if ESPN asks him to. He is hoping his players will decline as well.
Pat Shurmur says he will not wear a mic Monday night and he would prefer his players follow his lead. ESPN MNF has not asked Giants yet.
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) October 31, 2019
Networks typically do a good job of capturing moments that show fans a perspective that they do not get during the broadcast of a game, but there are responsibilities that come along with that. The mic’ed up moments we see every week on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” and other programs are cleared through teams first, and several members of the Jets ripped ESPN for embarrassing Darnold. If other coaches and players follow Shurmur’s lead, that will hurt ESPN’s production on some level.
