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PFWA Files Ridiculous Complaint

by David Kindervater on January 25th, 2007

I was upset at the Pro Football Writers of America, of which I am a member in my second season, for filing a complaint against the Colts today for not planning to arrive at the Super Bowl until Monday night. I hear a lot of complaining from members of the media, usually about access or something. And some of it is certainly justifiable. But this one took the cake for triviality.

Here’s the deal. The Bears are scheduled to arrive in Miami Sunday night, which is the norm. The Colts are arriving in South Beach on Monday evening. So what? They are within the league’s rules as long as they arrive by the end of the day Monday. Members of the media have all week to harass these guys. Yes, Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. What’s one more day going to matter? I received an email from the PFWA saying “we” were dissed and suggesting a deluge of unhappy emails to the NFL and the Colts might result in Indy hopping on a plane 24 hours earlier. Yeah, I can see Tony Dungy rounding up his troops and changing his entire schedule to accommodate the media. His job is to prepare his team to win a football game, not to cater to the desires of the media. So, I sent an email to NFL VP of Public Relations Greg Aiello late this afternoon and voiced these very thoughts. He thanked me for my input in an immediate response and issued these words in a wire report:

“The teams are required to be in the Super Bowl city by the end of the day Monday. It’s the team’s option whether to arrive Sunday. Obviously, the Bears opted to do something different than the Colts. But it’s no issue as far as we’re concerned.”

I think some members of the media are spoiled. They go to these events on the dime of their employer, expecting to be treated like royalty and make issue out of the dumbest things. I was at the Super Bowl in Detroit last year and found nothing to complain about. I was just happy to be there doing a job that I love. And nothing prevented me from doing my job while I was there.

The PFWA has a solid purpose of developing working relationships with all 32 NFL teams and ensuring that football writers are treated in a professional manner. That’s great. It also serves as the official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public. That’s fine, too. It’s when they make a big deal out of something as minor as access to the Colts for five days instead of six that’s embarrassing.

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POSTED IN: Super Bowl XLI