One of the weirdest press conference encounters in some time comes from Detroit Lions’ head coach Matt Patricia, who, when answering questions Wednesday about the team’s Tuesday trade of receiver Golden Tate, decided to first critique a reporter’s posture.
Here’s the video, via The Detroit Free Press, with the exchange in question starting around 0:45:
And the transcription:
Reporter: “Why do you think this move makes your franchise better?”
Patricia: “Ah, well, you know. Do me a favor just kinda sit up, just like, have a little respect for the process. Every day you come and ask me questions and you’re just kinda like you know, ‘gimme this.’ ”
Reporter: “I’m sitting …”
Patricia: “I’m asking just to be a little respectful in this whole process.”
Reporter: “Okay, that’s fine.”
Patricia: “So ask me a question professionally and I’ll answer it for you.”
Reporter: “Okay. Why do you feel like this move makes your franchise better?”
Yes, that’s the coach known for his beard and backwards baseball cap (to the point that Colin Cowherd said he looked like a “slob” last month) complaining about the way a reporter is sitting when asking him questions. And while Cowherd’s comments about Patricia’s appearance were dumb and not particularly relevant, it’s a little funny to see Patricia going off on posture, something similarly appearance-focused and similarly irrelevant.
That’s also a whole lot of “process” from someone who hasn’t worked with Nick Saban. But maybe this is a Saban-style deflection tactic, a la “rat poison“: if people are talking about Patricia going off at a reporter about posture, they’re not debating the Tate trade. We’ll see how that plays out for him. But we can certainly add Patricia to the list of elementary school teachers and mothers who are concerned about others’ posture. And if you want to ask him a question without drama, it appears you’d better sit up straight.
