Reporter Dan Leberfeld tells his side of Bart Scott story

Dan Leberfeld of “Jets Confidential” was involved in a fight with Bart Scott on Friday that made headlines. Leberfeld wrote about the incident on his site and told his side of the story later in the day.

Leberfeld explained that he took a photo of Scott talking with reporter Jane McManus on Friday and that he also took a photo of Scott talking to another reporter on Wednesday. He says he took the photos of Scott talking with reporters to use for a story he’s writing about Scott declaring a media boycott.

Sounds reasonable enough, right?

Leberfeld further defends himself by explaining that the photos he took were in accordance with the Jets’ policy on media behavior in the locker room. The policy apparently states that photographs in the locker room are only acceptable when a player is talking with a reporter, and when the player is fully clothed. Leberfeld followed the rules in both cases.

I think what this comes down to is Bart Scott already had a defensive stance with the media, so it doesn’t take much to set him off. As a player, he should know that reporters can photograph him during the team’s open locker room. It may seem like a violation of his privacy to have a reporter take a picture of him from a cell phone, but in that context, it likely is not.