Just like the Indianapolis Colts before then, the Washington Commanders decided that one season with Carson Wentz as their quarterback was enough, cutting the veteran signal-caller on Monday.
The move comes just shy of one year to the day when they traded with the Colts for Wentz, hoping that he would relocate the stability that helped make him a dependable starter for the Philadelphia Eagles for a time.
The move also comes about six months after a viral episode caused when the Commanders team president admonished ABC 7 DC’s Scott Abraham over questions he asked Wentz during a training camp interview.
Two questions from an 11-minute interview between Abraham and Went went viral on August 11, 2022, due to the no-punches-pulled style of questioning by the reporter. The first question had to do with reports coming out of camp that Wentz had been inaccurate and inconsistent so far. The second question was about whether or not this was Wentz’s last chance to be a starter in the NFL after “Philly didn’t want you” and “Indy didn’t want you.”
well then, talk about not pulling any punches pic.twitter.com/DPF1t2Shke
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 12, 2022
Taken together, the questions in the clip present a picture of Abraham as a combative and perhaps inappropriate reporter trying to get a reaction out of the quarterback. It’s worth noting that if you watch the full 11-minute interview, the rest of it is lacking in any confrontation and is very cordial.
Still, the way those two questions were asked didn’t sit well with many, including the team president Jason Wright, who tweeted out a series of complaints about Abraham and defenses of Wentz.
And it’s not that the guys can’t take criticism. Just be a journalist and follow standard practices. Others have found a way to do both. https://t.co/eZ8i6rbvL1
— Jason Wright (@whoisjwright) August 12, 2022
The specifics of Abraham’s questioning style might be up for debate, but one thing that certainly wasn’t was the looming threat that Wentz was indeed on his “last shot” and that was a fair thing to be asked of him.
“Honestly, Wright’s actions here look worse than Abraham’s,” said Awful Announcing’s Andrew Bucholtz last August. “Neither of the questions Abraham asked there seems particularly over the top. Both Wentz’s performance in camp so far and his thoughts on if this is his last chance to prove he’s an NFL starter are valid subjects of discussion, and they’re subjects being brought up by others (including Jones, who now through no fault of his own has seen his reporting presented as ‘good’ by the team president, not exactly what anyone covering a team wants). And it’s odd to see Wright say ‘Just be a journalist and follow standard practices’ without specifying what practices he thinks Abraham didn’t follow.”
While injuries played a part, Wentz’s 2022-2023 season with the Commanders was a severe disappointment. After a hot start, the Washington offense sputtered around the quarterback. He broke his right ring finger in Week 6 and his attempts to return to the starting spot afterward yielded little. By the time the end of the season rolled around, Wentz was buried on the QB depth chart and the question about his future as a starter in the NFL had officially been answered.
While Wright and others might not have liked the way the questions were asked, in retrospect, they were very worthy of needing an answer.
[The Comeback, ESPN]
