Emmanuel Acho criticizes Mark Andrews for avoiding the media after his costly mistakes in the Ravens’ AFC Divisional Round loss. Credit: FS1’s ‘The Facility’
By Sam Neumann on

Buffalo Bills fans are supporting Mark Andrews by donating to his charity. Emanuel Acho, on the other hand, is admonishing the embattled Baltimore Ravens tight end for refusing to speak to the media.

For the 29-year-old Andrews, avoiding the spotlight won’t change the way his performance in the Ravens’ 27-25 loss to the Bills is remembered.

His critical fumble was just the start of a night to forget, with his most glaring mistake coming when he dropped a potential game-tying two-point conversion.

According to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, the three-time Pro Bowler skipped media availability following the Ravens’ season-ending defeat. The Pro Football Writers of America’s postgame policy requires all players to speak with reporters after a brief cooldown period of 10-15 minutes.

But Mark Andrews wasn’t present.

And that didn’t sit well with Emmanuel Acho.

“If Andrews comes out and puts out his own statement to the fans, to all them people? Bet… I do believe you owe something to his fans,” Acho explained on Wednesday’s The Facility. “Now, fans don’t sweat like we sweat; they don’t like bleed like we bleed; they don’t break bones like we break bones; they don’t tear tendons like we tear tendons, but they do spend their hard-earned money to go to the games — and they stand there in the frigid temperatures.

“Mark Andrews, a lot of fans were at that game in support of you, in support of Lamar [Jackson], in support of that whole team. So, when you drop it, just go up there and say something, because even fans are looking for closure, too. Go up there and say something, whatever that something is.”

Acho wanted Andrews to understand that fans deserve more than silence, especially those who supported him in frigid temperatures. They’re looking for some form of acknowledgment, even a brief statement, to show accountability and respect for the people who help keep the game alive.

“The media keeps the ecosystem of the sport going,” Acho explained. “If The Facility ceases to exist and every show ceases to exist and broadcasts cease to exist, yeah, you would still play the game, but nobody’s going to be watching… The reason the salary cap grows is because the media grows. So, you cannot as a player say, ‘I don’t owe the media anything,’ when the pockets are as fat as they are because of the media.”

So, while Mark Andrews’ silence may be understandable during one of the most fleeting — and embarrassing — moments of his professional career, Acho feels like it misses the bigger picture. Obviously, you can’t expect a human being with emotions to see that in the moment that the media and fans are essential to the very existence of the sport.

Of course, it’s easy to criticize a player’s actions in hindsight, especially when they face potential fines for not fulfilling their media obligations. Still, Emmanuel Acho seems to think that failing to recognize that connection only perpetuates the divide between players and the fans who support them.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann