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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant flipped out on the media and went on a long rant directed at reporters after practice on Thursday. On Friday morning, Stephen A. Smith and the First Take crew discussed the incident, as well as Bryant’s battle with the media, which has basically been ongoing since he entered the league back in 2010.
While discussing this latest confrontation, Smith suggested that black athletes often handle black reporters differently than white reporters because they expect them to report in a different fashion.
“We have a lot of black athletes that look at black reporters and hold us to a different standard because they expect us to spew and disseminate and present a different perspective than the rest of you, and I don’t disagree with it totally. I do believe when you’re giving commentary, opinion and analysis, you can provide that. But when you’re reporting the facts, they are what they are. If you came late to practice 85 times, that’s what you did. If you got in a fight with somebody, that’s what you did. If the coach is complaining about you or the GM is complaining about you, that is what it is. If your numbers are what they are and you’re not productive, there’s no way around that.
But I’m telling you there are black athletes out there that will look at Skip Bayless and they’re more cool with you than they are with me because they want me to soft soak.”
Smith, who often has controversial opinions, makes some interesting points in the discussion and referenced an interview Mike Tyson once did with ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap (who is white) where Tyson basically said he has less tolerance for black reporters being critical of him.
But does that argument apply to this specific case with Bryant? That’s really only a question that Dez himself can answer, but he did allude to race in his written statement after the spat.
(Via SportsGrid)