The San Francisco 49ers are facing some awkward questions. And no, this time it is not about a questionable play call on third down.
The team is being accused of trying to keep quiet about a car accident involving head coach Kyle Shanahan. The accident reportedly happened on July 14. That was well before the team opened training camp on July 25.
The interesting part? The incident was apparently a matter of public record.
Questions are being asked about why the story was not reported sooner. Apparently, when it comes to NFL news, some things can move at lightning speed, other things apparently need to sit in the oven for 11 days.
According to the accusations, the 49ers wanted the information kept under wraps until training camp began. That would have given the team time to control the timing and perhaps avoid having the story become a distraction during the quiet part of the offseason.
Except there was one tiny problem. The information was already publicly available.
That makes the situation even more interesting. The issue is not simply whether Shanahan was involved in a car accident. It is also about how information that was already on the public record was handled by reporters who knew about it.
Instead of reporting the facts when they became aware of them, the reporters who knew about the accident reportedly complied with the team’s wishes.
And that has raised plenty of eyebrows.
The 49ers posted their statement regarding the accident at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday. Adam Schefter of ESPN posted his first tweet on the situation exactly one minute later, at 12:01 p.m. ET. The ESPN article about the accident was published at 12:02 p.m. ET. Nick Wagoner, who covers the 49ers for ESPN and who shared credit with Schefter for the story, reposted Schefter’s tweet at 12:03 p.m. ET.
Why would ESPN hold the information until the 49ers disclosed it? Beyond the obvious fact that the NFL now owns 10 percent of ESPN (which means the 49ers own 1/32nd of the 10 percent), this kind of negotiated reporting isn’t uncommon. Given that ESPN had information that wasn’t in the 49ers’ release (e.g., injury details and news from local law enforcement about the other driver not being injured, the finding that alcohol or drugs were not a factor, and the decision that no one should be cited for the crash), it’s fair to wonder if ESPN made a deal with the 49ers to hold the news until the team announced it — possibly in exchange for receiving the full specifics about Shanahan’s injuries.
Others who cover the 49ers knew about it, too. Before the news was released, Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard dropped a hint: “I think there’s going to be some news later this morning.” Kawakami later admitted that he was aware of the situation, but that he didn’t report it because he “knew about 15% of the details.”
Shanahan’s accident happened on a public roadway. Public agencies responded to it. Basic information about the situation was publicly available. And folks who publicize relevant information to the public for a living chose not to do it until they got the go-ahead from the 49ers.
Journalists are supposed to report the news. Teams are supposed to manage football teams. Those two jobs occasionally collide. It is not exactly a shocking development in professional sports.
Still, asking reporters to keep quiet about publicly available information is a different conversation.
