Over the years, we’ve seen many former sportswriters and bloggers move into actual elected positions. And they sometimes wind up commenting on events from their former field. The latest case of that comes from one of 11 Michigan legislators who sent a letter to Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti demanding “due process” for the University of Michigan amidst sign-stealing accusations, with letter co-author Graham Filler (R-Clinton County, currently in his third term in the state House) citing his past work as a co-founder of SB Nation Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire in that release:
Yes, one of the Michigan legislators who led this letter is a former Big Ten blogger. Incredible sport.
Shoutout @offtackleempire. pic.twitter.com/2fkFTtvE1R
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) November 8, 2023
There are many absurd things about this Michigan case and the media discussion of it, but “blogger-turned-legislator demands answers from conference” certainly adds to that case. And it is perhaps notable that the current staff of Off Tackle Empire does not appear thrilled by this:
https://t.co/hxUlaVfEmo pic.twitter.com/cI9Ir4TFoB
— Off Tackle Empire (@offtackleempire) November 8, 2023
For what it’s worth, Filler’s LinkedIn page does not mention his blogging work. Instead, it covers his education at the University of Detroit’s Mercy School of Law (appropriate, considering that other Michigan fans/lawyers are even trying to make arguments that advance scouting can’t be prohibited for antitrust reasons) and his time working in the Michigan Attorney General’s office from 2011-2018. But it’s certainly convenient for him to now cite his past as a sports blogger. And this is just one of many remarkable responses to the ongoing Michigan investigations.
[Chris Vannini on Twitter; image of Filler in 2021 from GOPhouse.org]
