Mike Florio, Jason La Canfora in Twitter beef over Andy Reid report
Respected NFL reporters Mike Florio and Jason La Canfora traded shots over Twitter Tuesday night concerning a report over Andy Reid’s scheduled interview with the Arizona Cardinals.
It all started with the following tweet from CBS Sports’ La Canfora Tuesday evening at 9:53 p.m ET:
Andy Reid will interview with the Cardinals tomorrow.
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 2, 2013
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport disputed that report, saying Reid’s interview with the team would be on Thursday, not Wednesday:
The #Cardinals plan to interview former #Eagles coach Andy Reid on Thursday, I’m told by a team source.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 2, 2013
26 minutes later, La Canfora decided to address Rapoport’s report and stood by his initial tweet:
Um, just to be clear, as previously reported here, Andy Reid arrives in Arizona for his formal interview there tomorrow (Wednesday).
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 2, 2013
A few minutes later, Florio published a post on Pro Football Talk citing Rapoport’s report that Reid would be interviewing with the Cardinals on Thursday. Florio then tweeted a few items that meshed with what he wrote in his post.
Florio believes that La Canfora’s source is Reid’s agent, Bob LaMonte, who wants other potential Reid suitors to bring their best offer sooner rather than later lest they lose Reid to Arizona.
La Canfora didn’t like having his report/source questioned, so he responded to Florio.
@profootballtalk so what are you reporting?
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 2, 2013
@profootballtalk I mean, surely if you have everyone’s sources figured out,then you know exactly what’s up yourself
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 2, 2013
Florio’s response? La Canfora was getting played by Reid’s agent:
@jasonlacanfora . . . I’m reporting that LaMonte is pulling your strings.Again.Like the “McDaniels to the Bears” nonsense.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 2, 2013
La Canfora fired back with two shots at Florio, one regarding the Saints bounty suspensions being changed, and another suggesting that Florio is controlled by agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Matters calmed down after that.
We are fans of what both Florio/Pro Football Talk and La Canfora do and frequently cite the two at LBS. The problem is that there is plenty of conflicting information this time of year. Reporters are in a race to be first with coaching news. This race leads many reporters to report loosely-sourced information, or to publish what is being fed to them by agents in exchange for exclusive scoops. Florio believes La Canfora was being fed information by the agent, so we appreciate him sharing his opinion. Why? Like Florio said, it helps the public decide how much credence they should lend to various reports.