The lifestyle that comes with being a “sports insider” seems brutal and punishing in a way that can be hard to justify, especially when your scoops are essentially worthless in a matter of minutes.
While people like Adam Schefter, Ian Rapoport, and Shams Charania have talked about the great lengths they’ll go for a story and how that impacts their private lives, Fox’s Jay Glazer has been the most open and forthcoming insider when it comes to how the job messes with his mental health.
Glazer has made it clear over the years that he refuses to engage in the insider game in quite the same way Schefter and Woj might, but that doesn’t stop him from breaking big stories, as he did with the story about the fallout between Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce.
Speaking with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, Glazer said that one of the most important rules that comes with his reporting is getting at least three independent sources before he reports a story.
“The reason why you can’t go off two sources is because one may have told the other,” said Glazer. “So I will always get three independent sources.”
The Fox Sports insider also cited the tragic story of Richard Jewell as something he thinks about whenever he’s trying to break news about someone.
“I told my bosses at Fox when we were doing the Tom Brady jersey story, I am so paranoid and meticulous about stuff because of what happened with Richard Jewell,” said Glazer. “That always stuck with me. Everybody got it wrong, and they ruined this dude’s life. The way these stories happen is you talk and talk and talk to people.”
Jewell, a security guard at the 1996 Summer Olympics, identified an abandoned backpack in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park and helped get around 100 people away from the area before the pipe bomb inside exploded and killed one and injured hundreds. Initially considered a hero, media coverage of Jewell helped to paint the picture that he might have been responsible for the bomb. While those claims were ultimately disproven, they stained his reputation and ruined his life.
Any journalist should be considering the impact of their story on those involved, especially when you’re the first one to break the news. Considering how the insider game is full of errors and hastily written tweets in the name of getting the story first, it’s good to know Glazer remains dedicated to making sure if he reports something, it’s legit.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.