As he usually does on Mondays, Peter King published this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback today. It involved the New England Patriots and their Super Bowl comeback through the eyes of Tom Brady. The whole thing was cool. It also led to King losing his mind on Bleacher Report because he thought they were stealing information from him.
Early on in his story, King got this quote from Brady.
“I think it was one of the greatest games I have ever played in, but when I think of an interception return for a touchdown, some other missed opportunities in the first 37, 38 minutes of the game, I don’t really consider playing a good quarter-and-a-half plus overtime as one of the ‘best games ever.’ But it was certainly one of the most thrilling for me, just because so much was on the line, and it ended up being an incredible game.”
It’s a good quote and the kind of thing that illustrates that Brady’s a competitive dude who is able to find flaws even when he wins the Super Bowl. The folks at Bleacher Report made a graphic that had a picture of Brady and part of the quote – “I don’t really consider playing a good quarter-and-a-half plus overtime as one of the ‘best games ever.’” This isn’t uncommon, but it is uncommon for the source of the quote to lose their dang mind over something like this.
You see, Bleacher Report forgot to credit King in the graphic when they sent the tweet out. It’s an honest mistake – something that can be determined by looking through Bleacher Report’s Twitter account and seeing that they always cite the source of their quotes when they throw these graphics together. But for King, this was a half step above a crime against humanity, so he lost his dang mind.
Thanks for stealing a quote from an exclusive interview you did not get, @BleacherReport. Despicable of you. https://t.co/gRMJpCrH6y
— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
In case you missed what everyone in the business was reading today, @BleacherReport: https://t.co/zPgyYuWB4g
— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
Have some respect for the business, @BleacherReport. Just a little.
— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
In an attempt to make up for the error, Bleacher Report deleted the tweet. This was not good enough for King, though, who didn’t think this was a good enough way to make up for such an atrocity.
So brave. Now they can pretend they didn’t do it instead of apologizing. https://t.co/LMSY2Mnwki
— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
Then instead of removing it and saying nothing until being called out, admit the mistake and apologize. https://t.co/4rLCwxUM5x
— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
Now, you may be wondering, why is King dying on this hill? It’s especially odd when you consider that he’s fine with one of his quotes being repurposed and credited properly – which again, Bleacher Report does, they just made a mistake in this scenario.
Everyone can use it—attributed to The MMQB.
Without that, you’re stealing. You’re plagiarizing. You’re lower than low. https://t.co/iu5rGs8Hwu— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
But don’t worry, Peter King is here to explain it all by comparing his work to a watch. Sure.
Say you had a watch stolen.
It was pawned, then sold for cents on the dollar.
Would you be happy your watch was “redistributed” and used? https://t.co/mmYWV5Ujkn— Peter King (@peter_king) February 14, 2017
This whole thing is so silly. Yes, Bleacher Report deserved to have their mistake pointed out, King has that right if he wanted as the person who created the content from which this quote was lifted. But my goodness, did he turn this up to 11 and try to scorch the earth over something so trivial. It’s ok, Peter. Go throw back an Allagash White and take a chill pill, buddy.
