ESPN NFL analyst Kevin Clark is one of many reporters making the journey through training camps this summer and wants to set the record straight on how one particular type of online content is making football coverage worse this time of year.
In a rant on his podcast This Is Football, released Thursday, Clark described why aggregator social media accounts are “making fans dumber” by making money “based on our rage.”
“Here’s what the aggregation account wants you to do: They want you to react to that in any way,” Clark explained. “But it’s making fans dumber.”
This Is Football: I think less of you if you react in any way to a single out of context training camp play framed as important by aggregators. pic.twitter.com/lX4nTXPcox
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) August 1, 2024
Clark pointed to highlights like Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman making a highlight catch or lowlights like Cleveland Brown Deshaun Watson missing a throw, arguing that neither really matters.
However, social media accounts and websites starved for content will magnify any random play into something important in order to get fans to react.
“You will see mistakes from players on video. And if you take those videos, one of them, and put them online, and an account says, ‘Hey we got all the data points we need based on that one video, your goal in life is to ignore these people,” Clark said. “Do not take them seriously. They’re trying to make money. You can monetize Twitter now, and they do make money based off of our rage.”
Clark then told a story about how former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy once explained how Aaron Rodgers would test himself on purpose in training camp. As a rookie, Patrick Mahomes did the same thing, throwing seven interceptions during his first week of practices.
“The greats can do that; sometimes, they make mistakes,” Clark added. And they didn’t have aggregation accounts breathing down their neck. So ignore these people. These people are clowns.”
Clark is the latest of many sports reporters to decry aggregators, but his point is hard to argue with.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.