Reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes restructured his contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, leading NFL insider Jay Glazer to discuss the deal on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Wednesday.
When asked why part of the job of an insider these days is to get deep details on relatively unimportant contract signings, Glazer agreed it may have crossed a line into being somewhat boring.
“I don’t care as much as everybody else,” Fox Sports reporter Glazer said, “but some fans really like it. So our job is to give fans what they like.”
Glazer attributed the change to the popularity of 24/7 news on the internet and social media.
“We just used to say ‘this guy got a deal done,’ but it wasn’t, ‘we’ve got to see their numbers and make sure these numbers aren’t fake and we’re holding agents to what things are said and done,'” Glazer said.
Like many NFL insiders today, Glazer started on a local team beat and worked his way up to the Fox job. Glazer began working as what we would call an “insider” in 1999.
“It was never the agents are saying this, but the real numbers are this,” Glazer added.
It’s fascinating to hear a plugged-in NFL reporter like Glazer poo-poo his own gig. But it also speaks to the strange turn insiderdom has taken over the years.
Jay Glazer is a genuine storyteller. It’s why he probably hasn’t signed on to do a daily show or more short-form content anywhere. When he worked at The Athletic, Glazer’s news roundup columns often included celebrations of players’ achievements or small tidbits about hard work or great execution.
While that may be why many NFL insiders got in the game, the game has changed. As the Diana Russini saga with The Athletic showed, having news and information pay. Especially now that legalized gambling and social content rule the industry.
Glazer’s job evolved and he evolved with it.
[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on YouTube]
