Credit to Sam Fortier for asking the tough (for some) questions, as he did to Ron Rivera this week – asking him what he’s seen out of Chase Young so far this season.
BMitch & Finlay played the audio, which saw Ron say “he’s done exactly what we've asked and done some good things,” and that Young is “very dynamic and has some explosion to his game, and he’s doing a great job.”
Trust us, the words don’t match the tone of Rivera’s answer, which was very curious to Brian and JP.
“I mean, I’ve watched Chase play, and I think he has done what they’ve asked, ad played as well as anyone else. I don’t know,” BMitch said. “I think Ron now is very cautious when he answers questions about Chase because he ends up in a lot of situations. So, I don't know if he was completely honest, because I think he tries to shy away from some stuff now.
JP was okay with the answer, even if it was muted, but there was an odd pause, like the “question caught him by surprise or something,” even if it was benign, but Brian had an idea.
“He has to be patient every time he's asked a question now, because he's answered too many of them that were able to come back to haunt him,” BMitch replied. “They would bring some people in every year and talk to us about when people ask questions, take that little hesitation before you answer it, give yourself a little time to think. I think it's something he should be doing too.”
Landphill agreed with JP that what we heard was “not much,” and Finlay thinks Brian was on to something.
“Let’s say Ron gets asked about Chase and he answers that ‘he’s been okay, but we want to see more,’ the immediate headline on every aggregating site is Ron Rivera wants more out of Chase young,” JP said. “So, I thought just the pause was a little bit awkward, but maybe he was taking a beat in his head to make sure he didn't give social media fodder, because everything with Chase becomes social media fodder.”
“The whole thing of it is you watched him play? Has he played well?” BMitch replied. “There’s nothing else you can really say, because if you say he didn't play well, then you're gonna have people that say, ‘he just must not like him at all,’ because I've seen better play. It’s at a point now where you damned if you do, damn if you don't in this situation.”
Young has become a flashpoint, which JP thinks is silly, and it’s time for a BMitch rant on the media, for the media, by someone who is now media.
“Let's be real: when people ask a question, they're looking for a particular answer, and if you give them the answer, they're looking for you really just made it much easier for them to write the story,” BMitch said. “If you go somewhere that they didn't expect now they have to figure it out. The constant about Chase – and you can look at what chase has done thus far and find good stuff to write about – but the story is let me ask someone else to support my story. What I've learned about a lot of media is the story is written before they ask the question, now you gotta go fill in the key points and quotes. So, that is what I pick up a lot of times from certain media guys in this town; it's just what it is, and I think as a person who dealt with the media and is now on this side of asking questions, you better be well on point, because especially in this day and age when you can say one thing and not mean what they think you mean, it’s too late, because you Tweet it out and it’s out there.”
