Here’s a brief timeline of events from ESPN’s coverage of Monday Night Football between the Patriots and Bills:
-In pregame, ESPN analyst and former Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis says he would take Rex Ryan “all day” over Pats coach Bill Belichick.
Thx for reminding how silly you are @raylewis "Ryan is better than Belichick" https://t.co/ZZAgP85ggx #Patriots #Bills
— Paul Costello (@paulfcostello) November 24, 2015
-Patriots decline to send a player for the customary interview with the MNF crew after the game.
-ESPN posts this emoji tweet.
🏈📹🏈📹🏈📹🏈📹🏈📹🏈
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 24, 2015
Now to casual observers and those who didn’t watch the game, this tweet seems kinda troll-y, a knock perhaps at the Pats for Spygate. That’s what most fans believed after ESPN sent it out.
So @espn doesn't get their postgame interview so like whiney preteens they tweet out a Spygate/Deflategate emoji jab.
— Adam Bogdan (@PatriotsInform) November 24, 2015
Yeah, and that late night text I just sent was about eggplants. https://t.co/pIvL2kNJ9V
— Katie Nolan (probably) (@katienolan) November 24, 2015
DeflateGate and SpyGate: Another Reason for Patriots Fans to Hate ESPN https://t.co/9UETia0nTt pic.twitter.com/kZwYpUr1Vz
— Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) November 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/KFabeCandyass/status/669028199414824960
Wait what is this tweet from @SportsCenter I thought it was fake? #ESPNLIES pic.twitter.com/mf0hwcHCV4
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 24, 2015
And several of the NSFW variety.
Now to the context of the tweet. Sure, it looks bad, and the timing was suspicious to say the least. But the game was truly horrific, one of the most unwatchable of the season. Seemingly every five or six plays, there was a ref conference or a review or an inadvertent whistle. It was bad. Very bad. The NFL should consider sitting out Gene Steratore’s crew as a result.
But, and this is just my opinion, the tweet was in reference to all the stoppages in play. Thus, the “football-review-football-review” emoji. I mean, it makes sense, right? I can’t imagine ESPN would let an intern troll the hell out of an entire fanbase and oh no, that’s not true.
I’m just as confused as the rest of you.