When Shannon Sharpe called Julio Jones live TV during FS1’s “Undisputed” to find out about his future, everyone asked the same question: did Jones know he was on the air?
Apparently, he did not.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote on Monday that he has it “on good authority that Jones had no clue that he was on national TV when he said to FS1’s Shannon Sharpe, ‘I’m outta there’ two weeks ago, which led to his trade request becoming public.”
It had been speculated that then-Falcons receiver was available on the trade market, but the call Sharpe made confirmed any rumors and reports straight from the source itself.
The incident led to debate over the ethics and even legality of the call as Sharpe did not tell Jones they were on the air until the end of the phone call. California has a two-party consent law.
A report came out that the Falcons were “blindsided” by what transpired, unaware that Jones was going to appear on the show, although the receiver had reportedly requested a trade months ago.
Fortunately, for all parties, the Falcons trading Jones after June 1 made a lot of sense for a rebuilding team that was able to clear cap space and get a high draft pick in return.
If Atlanta had no such plans, and Jones said what he said on air, it would have created quite an awkward situation within the organization.
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