Deadspin scorches source

but the headline had a question mark on it, so everything's ok

 

They actually thought that was a story worthy of publication in the first place? Whether or not the guy played offense and defense?

 

No. They thought he lied about playing at all, and the tip-off to them was that he made a big deal out of players playing both offense and defense, because that's not a big deal in high school. They thought it was a sign that he didn't really know what it was like to play high school football.

 

Deadspin is currently working to confirm that Charles Woodson was once enrolled at the University of Michigan. He once claimed to play offense and defense -- and get this, he even says he played special teams!

 

Important stuff.

 

That was one of the weirdest things about it. I don't get why that would be a red flag, unless you've never seen a football game in a town that has, I don't know, fewer than 50,000 people. Most small school football players are on offense and defense. Obviously you see fewer as you go up in size, but of all the things to send a tingle up your leg, that was a strange one. It'd be like thinking someone's lying if they said they played three sports in high school back in 1993.

 

I suppose none of you actually read the Washington Post story that Craggs linked to:

http://deadspin.com/how-deadspin-fucked-up-the-cory-gardner-story-1647195366

 

No. He didn't own it. He questioned the motives of old man to change his story.

Sorry, that's not owning it.
Take that sentence out, OK.
Leave it in, you're taking a cheap shot at a fallable source.
You fucked it. Leave it at that and move on.

And OBTW: This is a nothing story. And it was a really long nothing story.

 

^ So it belongs in the BASW?

 

Not to knock McKenna too much because he's typically great, but it seems like covering DC-area sports (and preps) kinda skewed his view on the "play both ways" thing. Hell, I grew up in a town of 60,000, played in a state title game at my state's highest classification, and everybody worth a damn played both ways. Everybody. Our all-state wide receiver was a defensive end. Our all-state quarterback was the hardest hitting free safety in the league. Western states aren't populated enough to keep good athletes on the bench for half the game. Of course it sounds like Caldwell Gardner was garbage as a player and was at the very least telling misleading tales about his role on the team, but the "play both ways" thing wouldn't have sounded much of an alarm.

EDIT: I have no idea why I thought the dude's name was Caldwell.

 

Hell, Terrelle Pryor played both ways in high school.