Louis Riddick has been an ESPN NFL analyst since 2013 and in that time has ascended to be one of the go-to analysts in Bristol. He filled in for Ray Lewis on the NFL Draft a couple years ago and did such a great job as a substitute that it’s been his seat ever since. In just a few short years, Riddick has acquitted himself quite well as one of the best and brightest minds covering the NFL.
Given Riddick’s spotlight and the respect he’s gathered, it wouldn’t be a surprise to hear that teams might be interested in bringing him into their front office. After all, before he went to ESPN, Riddick was in the front office of both the Eagles and the Redskins. And on Sunday, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported that Riddick had been contacted by the Chiefs for their GM opening.
The #Chiefs have reached out to ESPN analyst Louis Riddick to set up an interview for next week for their now-vacant GM job, sources say.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 25, 2017
Makes sense, right? Not so fast, though. Rapoport’s report was refuted by none other than Riddick himself, who went to Twitter an hour later and said that the Chiefs had not contacted him for an interview. His source was… himself.
The Kansas City Chiefs have not contacted me and there is no interview set up for this week. Source? Me.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) June 25, 2017
Some of Riddick’s colleagues had some fun with his tweet and what could also be seen as a meta-commentary on sports media reporting in 2017. We’re not even talking about a job offer here or even an actual interview between Riddick and the Chiefs, but a phone call about an interview.
@Espngreeny I love this.
— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) June 25, 2017
But Louis – someone has a "source" – so wait, how can this be – wait, are you sure – cause it's a "source" – and, hi.
— Amy Trask (@AmyTrask) June 25, 2017
But how well do you know the source?!
— Sara Walsh (@Sara_Walsh) June 25, 2017
Rapaport “kinda sorta” responded to a Twitter follower who pointed out Riddick’s tweet with a “Lol. K.” We’re not sure if that’s a confirmation or a denial or a statement that he’s standing by his report or something in between.
Lol. K.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 25, 2017
When you think about it, I mean really think about it… it would be weird for an NFL Network guy to get the scoop on what an ESPN guy would be doing, right? Who knows where Rapoport is getting his info here or what kind of shades of gray might exist that could possibly link Riddick to the Chiefs job (there has to be something out there for him to press send after all) but you would probably trust Adam Schefter or anyone else at ESPN on this one. Schefter or whoever could just bump into Riddick in the ESPN cafeteria and ask him directly about it versus someone else doing the traditional reporting grind at another network.
Or in this case, you could just follow Riddick on Twitter.