NFL Media has added another prominent reporter. That would be Tom Pelissero, a national NFL reporter for USA Today since 2013, who will now be working for NFL Network and NFL.com. Pelissero announced the move on Twitter Thursday:
So it's official: I'm joining @NFLMedia. Will contribute to @NFLNetwork and https://t.co/uI2glnokIS starting next month. Beyond stoked.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 29, 2017
NFL Media’s release has more on Pelissero’s background, and mentions that he’ll also be keeping his current radio gigs with Sirius XM and 1500 ESPN Twin Cities:
Pelissero (@TomPelissero) joins NFL Media from USA Today where he covered the NFL nationally since 2013. During his time at USA Today, his team earned an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award. He began his career in 2003, reporting on the Minnesota Vikings for KFAN.com. After a stop with the Eau Claire (Wis.) Leader Telegram, Pelissero covered the Green Bay Packers for the Green Bay Press Gazette and the Vikings for 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Pelissero’s work also includes hosting radio shows on SiriusXM NFL Radio and 1500 ESPN Twin Cities which he will continue to do in his role with NFL Media.
It makes sense for NFL Media to add another veteran national reporter, and Pelissero should help them both break more NFL news and transactions and provide news and analysis for NFL Network’s lineup of shows. However, working for the NFL’s in-house media arm isn’t always easy; former NFL Network reporter Albert Breer had plenty of criticism for the network when he left for SI last year, saying the ability to freely report on the league diminished over his time there.
“I think when I got there, there was very clearly a wall between us and the league. It was one of the first questions I asked when I left the Globe, is, ‘Am I going to be able to do the job the way that I did it at the Globe?’ And the people that were there said absolutely. And that held true for a little while. That wall is now gone and it’s a big reason why, probably two or three months ago, I just decided we’re going to stop talking to them and we’re going to find somewhere else to go. I’m glad I found a really, really good place to go and hopefully we can do some real good stories there.”
Those criticisms haven’t been widely repeated by others, so it may have been mostly an issue involving Breer rather than something wider-spread. However, they do raise some questions about just what NFL Media’s correspondents can cover and how they can cover it. We’ll see what Pelissero does there.
