Enterprise Journalism Release – September 5, 2013
To tweet: https://es.pn/17BR7AK
How Well Does a Team Know its Players?
NFL Countdown (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, ESPN)
https://youtu.be/5vDt1RrTSZM
The New England Patriots selected Aaron Hernandez in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft after many teams took him off their boards for failed drug tests and questionable off-field behavior. He was arrested in connection to the murder of one of his associates this off season, and the Patriots cut ties with their standout tight end. ESPN.com’s Greg Garber reports on how well teams really know the players they employ.
“They knew what 31 other teams in the league knew: they knew this kid was badly damaged goods; they knew that he had a series of drug infractions at the University of Florida; they knew that he had a sphere of associations in Bristol. And, probably if they had done any work in Gainesville, they knew this kid was on a vector that was going to spin out wildly before he ever reached vesting age for the pension plan.” – Paul Solotaroff, Senior Writer, Contributing Editor Rolling Stone Magazine (co-wrote article on Hernandez/Patriots for the magazine)
“His draft grade told us there is little likelihood that he’s going to last beyond the second or third round. Were we willing to take him there? Just on the surface stuff that we had, probably not. — Bill Polian, ESPN NFL analyst and former NFL General Manager and executive (1986-2011)
Devon Walker
College Gameday (Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGjEgRm5cgE
On Sept. 8, 2012, Tulane safety Devon Walker suffered a severe spinal cord injury in a game against Tulsa. One year later, without movement in his arms or legs, Walker makes his return to campus and Tulane’s sideline, inspiring those around him through his rehabilitation efforts.
“My first instinct, when I woke up and I couldn’t breathe, I had a fear of ‘I’m gonna die on this field right now today and I’m never going to see any of my family again.’” — Devon Walker, on his injury against Tulsa.
“You look at somebody like Devon — the little things that you think are hard every day are nothing compared to what Devon has to deal with.” — Jacob Davis, Walker’s former teammate
Olympic Wrestling Decision
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 8 a.m., ESPN2)
Credit: ESPN / David Lubbers
John Barr (L) interviewing IOC Executive Board member Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jr. in Madrid
Sunday in Buenos Aries, Argentina, the IOC will decide the fate of Olympic wrestling. Disbelief and anger followed the IOC executive committee’s stunning vote last February to eliminate wrestling — one of the original Olympic sports — as one of the 25 core sports of the 2020 Summer Games. John Barr details wrestling’s battle for Olympic survival as one of three sports (squash, baseball/softball) with a chance for re-instatement.
“We knew when we got into that room that we would face criticism and that we would put some part of our Olympic movement in a very, very difficult situation.” — Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jr., IOC Executive Board member
“To take away the original sport is to take away, really, the meaning of the Games. And if that’s where the IOC wants to take the Games, I think it’s a big mistake.” — Cael Sanderson, Penn State wrestling coach
Mariano Rivera
E:60 Profile: Mariano Rivera (today, 10:30 p.m. ESPN2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISWIq4ywxUE
With an exclusive, all access pass, E:60 Profile: Mariano Rivera features the greatest closer in the history of baseball: Mariano Rivera. Tom Rinaldi takes viewers on a journey that begins in a tiny fishing village in Panama, and includes comments from folks like Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi, Cal Ripken Jr., and Rod Carew.
“Forty years of covering baseball, I have to think long and hard for a moment more moving that I’ve been involved in…It was just a magical moment.” – Bill Madden, Hall-of-Fame sportswriter, on Rivera’s tribute at the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field.
“Amazing! Ah it’s unbelievable. I sit down and I I still can’t understand it, how that happened. Yes, I have a little abilities, but none of the abilities to go all the way to the majors, they were far more better players than me, and for the good Lord to choose me, is amazing…” – Mariano Rivera
Kyle Larson
NASCAR Countdown (Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN)
https://youtu.be/kLLqAchfS0Q
Rising NASCAR star Kyle Larson has been named to take over for Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 Ganassi Racing Chevrolet next year on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Despite his enormous raw talent — he has won in many different forms of racing — observers wonder if the 21-year-old driver is ready to make the big jump to NASCAR’s highest level.
