Mike Florio calls out NFL media partners. Edit by Liam McGuire, Comeback Media.
By Sam Neumann on

Update: Since the publication of this article, ESPN has released an article on the matter.

The original article continues below.

Mike Florio and Pablo Torre broke the internet on Tuesday.

Or so they thought.

The Pro Football Talk founder and Pablo Torre Finds Out host joined forces to uncover evidence that the National Football League encouraged teams to collude against guaranteed salaries.

In the episode, released Tuesday, Torre explained how he and Florio had engaged in a friendly competition to uncover the arbitration ruling in the NFL Players Association’s grievance against the league regarding collusion allegations, with Torre ultimately obtaining the document first.

“Unearthing this document unlocked one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever investigated, in large part because it’s about what extremely powerful people — league officials, billionaire owners, and union leaders — have fought so hard to hide,” Torre told Awful Announcing. “And why? Because I’m a journalist, my personal philosophy is that more sunlight is needed, not less.”

While the ruling ultimately sided with the NFL, it exposed that the NFL Management Council — with the Commissioner’s blessing — urged teams at a March 2022 owners’ meeting to slash guarantees on veteran contracts. The NFLPA’s grievance fell short because there wasn’t enough proof that teams actually followed through on that advice. The document also revealed internal NFLPA messages, including harsh comments about Russell Wilson, which likely played a role in the union’s choice to keep the ruling under wraps.

We covered it. As did CBS. NBC did, too, of course. And so did Yahoo Sports.

But as of the writing of this article, there are no write-ups to be found on ESPN, NFL.com, or Fox Sports. The latter of whom has moved away from digital space, but nonetheless, Mike Florio made sure to call out a certain absence from some of the league’s partners on covering this story.

“I’m not surprised to see league partners downplaying the issue or flat-out ignoring it,” Florio told AA. “I tried for months to get my colleagues in the media to realize the potential importance of the issue and to get someone/anyone to attempt to secure the ruling that the NFL and NFLPA hid from view. No one seemed to care.”

It didn’t air on ESPN’s networks this morning, nor did it come up during any hour of The Pat McAfee Show. Even the network’s daily NFL show, NFL Live, didn’t bother to mention it.

While ESPN doesn’t control McAfee’s editorial choices, it’s still notable, especially since that show is one of ESPN’s biggest NFL platforms. Instead, TPMS led with a BYU quarterback commitment, a pre-taped interview with Aaron Rodgers, some MLB talk, Shane Gillis hosting the ESPYs, and more. This isn’t a knock on McAfee, just an observation that a program so closely tied to the NFL completely skipped what’s arguably the biggest NFL legal story in years.

Neither ESPN, NFL Network, nor Fox has covered it on air.

And in addition to his comments to AA, Florio made sure to call it out on social media.

Numerous times.

To be fair, at least one NFL partner didn’t shy away from coverage. CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones called attention to the ruling and later published a write-up.

Still, as of this article’s writing and the 5 p.m. SportsCenter, there has been complete silence on ESPN broadcasts. That remains true for the NFL Network and Fox, too.

This isn’t just another NFL controversy swept under the rug, but it’s also a glimpse behind the curtain of how the league wields its power over players and narratives alike. The arbitration ruling, while technically a loss for the NFLPA, confirms the league’s active role in encouraging teams to undercut guaranteed contracts, raising serious questions about the balance of power in professional football.

The silence from ESPN, NFL Network, and Fox on this ruling says a lot about how close those outlets are to the league. For a story this big, the lack of coverage feels less like an accident and more like a choice about what gets highlighted in NFL coverage.

Mike Florio and Pablo Torre’s efforts peeled back the façade, but the question remains: How long will this story stay hidden in plain sight, and who really benefits from keeping it that way?

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