It only took one misquote to set off a Twitter storm Wednesday. The Nation's Dave Zirin, one of the country's most preeminent left-wing sports journalists, paraphrased a quote from former NFL executive Mike Lombardi that made it appear as if Lombardi was blasting UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen for his philanthropy. Lombardi said the line in question on the Ringer's podcast.
"Michael Lombardi said of Josh Rosen, 'He has to decide whether he wants to be a humanitarian or football player.' Why," Zirin said in a now-deleted tweet, per Sports Illustrated.
Rosen, who actually dares to have an opinion on matters outside of football, has been lambasted by unnamed NFL scouts for being "entitled" and "arrogant." Lombardi's misquote fed into that narrative, prompting Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt to fire back.
"This is just as dumb as the "shut up and dribble" comment. Right or wrong, athletes are some of the most recognizable people in this country. That is an extremely powerful platform that so many use to do great things in their community. Who wouldn't want that?," he tweeted.
The problem is, Lombardi never said what Zirin had tweeted. Zirin issued a correction later in the day, but still did not share the full quote. "With apologies to @mlombardiNFL the exact quote is that Rosen "might like humanitarian work more than football.... I don't know where his values lie," he said.
That wasn't good enough for Simmons, founder and CEO of the Ringer. "Not nearly a good enough 'correction' / you made the first quote up and this "paraphrased" second version of it does not represent the context of what he said either. Do better," he wrote.
The full line from Lombardi is more nuanced. The ex-Patriots assistant and frequent WEEI guest was relaying what he had heard about Rosen's NFL Combine performance from league sources.
"I don't know if he did (help himself)," Lombardi said, per the Big Lead. "I think to me, what I'm hearing was, it was okay, I think he's gonna have to prove it. He's coming back saying he loves football. You know, I've talked to some people who hear he might like humanitarian work more than football. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't know where his values really lie."
Zirin's misquote is especially puzzling, because he still could have gotten his point across without misrepresenting Lombardi. Executives and scouts around the league are apparently disparaging Rosen for having a brain in his head. Zirin should have directed his ire towards them instead of attacking the messenger.
