Another Bills reporter trying to make himself the story

[4merper4mer]

59 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Why is it the wrong thread? Everything else but the kitchen sink has been in here?

I guess so, but not everything.  I've seen nothing about Fromm's opinion of making Covid masks from equine noggins.

55 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

i agree with all of this to a certain extent. MLJ would have served himself better if he would have explained why he thought Fromm’s answer was unacceptable instead of just stating it as if it was self-evident. (MLJ did elaborate a bit later on in a response to Jason Whitlock on twitter, fwiw.) But again, part of the reason athletes get away with non-answers like Fromm’s ALL THE TIME is because reporters do not press these guys ever for fear of public rebuke, lost access, or whatever else and MLJ seems guilty of that today.

 

as to the leaker and her motivations, I don’t know them for certain, but I doubt they were noble.

How about reporters press quarterbacks about football and politicians about politics?  Would that make more sense?

 

Edited August 8, 2020 by 4merper4mer

[JoPoy88]

8 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

 

How about reporters press quarterbacks about football and politicians about politics?  Would that make more sense?

 

that would be ideal, yes. But for better or worse, Fromm’s entry into the league was coupled with this texting story, and currently reporters see it as the most popular interesting thing about him; certainly more interesting than his prospects as a possible third string QB on a team with an entrenched starter. 
 

honestly, I don’t see the point in talking to him at all. 

[4merper4mer]

15 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

that would be ideal, yes. But for better or worse, Fromm’s entry into the league was coupled with this texting story, and currently reporters see it as the most popular interesting thing about him; certainly more interesting than his prospects as a possible third string QB on a team with an entrenched starter. 
 

honestly, I don’t see the point in talking to him at all. 

Agreed.  Time 100x better spent with Allen.

[njbuff]

46 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

I guess so, but not everything.  I've seen nothing about Fromm's opinion of making Covid masks from equine noggins.

How about reporters press quarterbacks about football and politicians about politics?  Would that make more sense?

 

 

It would be nice, but reporters from all genres are basically political activists and not "real" journalists.

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

Just as I would tell you not to expect everyone else to see it as a cop out.

 

People see what they want to see. The kid made a joke that got away from him. It's not a reason to cut him, and it's CERTAINLY not a reason for a dime-a-dozen sports reporter to stand in judgement of him for all his readers.

 

I think the way he dealt with the question is separate to the joke. It isn't a reason to cut him. Absolutely agree. But the scrutiny from the media? That comes with the job and Jake will have to do a better job of deal with it. 

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, 4merper4mer said:

1.  This is an American board so kindly keep the u out of favors.

2.  You and others may view it as a deflection.  A different group may not.  Can't a person love God and people?  That is what Fromm said he is trying to do.  Is that a bad approach?  Can't someone who doesn't believe think, "well at least he loves people too"?  You or I might view his approach as ill conceived.  That's fine.  Pronouncing it as "unacceptable" in a written statement, not framed as opinion, is wrong.  

 

So I haven't called it unacceptable.... but when you are talking about perception you have to understand that Jake's perception as a middle class white kid is likely to be different to the perceptions and experiences of a guy who is one of the still relatively few black reporters who made it to the top of sports journalism covering football. So we really do all come at it with our own perceptions. Not just Jake, or me, or people on this board.... but Marcel too. 

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

I’ve seen this posted a few times here.  
 

Would you be willing to share what you mean by this?   What, exactly is he copping out from?  Did he not want to share his stories of  personal growth because it was just that-intensely personal and private?  Or, are you of the mind he experienced no personal growth at all, and thus had nothing to share and chose not to be honest?  
 

I suppose I’m struck by the fact that a young man who nearly decapitated his career before it began would ever speak to any reporter, ever.  There is very little upside for him.  

 

I have explained it numerous times but to me starting his answer with it would be better if everyone loved God first and people second says "well how I deal with people and society problems doesn't matter that much anyway cos God is more important and I am religious so my faith gets me off the hook." 

 

Now a number have posters of faith have attempted to explain to me that to Jake that may not have been what he really meant based on his understanding of the bible. But it isn't my job or the job of anyone else digesting these comments on the other end to interpret his faith and what he really meant. The duty is on Jake to explain it and just saying "well God is first" is a cop out. 

[Putin]

6 hours ago, njbuff said:

 

It would be nice, but reporters from all genres are basically political activists and not "real" journalists.

Reminds me of one D A who used to be on ESPN and then joined msnbc , 

[GunnerBill]

21 minutes ago, Gene1973 said:

 

Sorry, but he has no such duty. His duty is to prepare to play football.

 

I agree. And I have no problem with him not wanting to get into politics. Said that numerous times in this thread. But if he wants to throw his faith up as a shield without explaining it then he has to accept the criticism that comes with that too. If he wants people to accept that as an answer then he needs to explain what it means.

[Jpsredemption]

Stupid text messages from a kid in his early twenties. I know no one else has ever said anything they regret in their early twenties. Fromm should be ashamed. 

I mean how can we not cut him? The guy in his early 30s who made Anti-Semitic comments was ousted right away...oh wait. 

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, Gene1973 said:

 

Sorry, but he has no such duty. His duty is to prepare to play football.

Now that is definitely a cop out. His job requires media interaction, just like all players. Jake is in the adult world now and is having a bit of trouble with it, not uncommon with youngsters, and he is finding out that weak statements get scrutiny, he may learn, he may not. 
 

Go Bills!!!

Edited August 8, 2020 by Don Otreply

[Sig1Hunter]

2 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Now that is definitely a cop out. His job requires media interaction, just like all players. Jake is in the adult world now and is having a bit of trouble with it, not uncommon with youngsters, and he is finding out that weak statements get scrutiny, he may learn, he may not. 
 

Go Bills!!!

So he should have just said “i’m just here so i dont get fined, boss”?

 

His job requires media interaction. It doesnt require that he bare his soul. Some seem to want a public tar and feathering of a kid that said something inappropriate in a private text message while he was in college. Its silly.

[NoSaint]

2 hours ago, Gene1973 said:

 

Sorry, but he has no such duty. His duty is to prepare to play football.

he has plenty of obligations and things he’d be accountable to each and every day. You only care about one. 

18 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said:

So he should have just said “i’m just here so i dont get fined, boss”?

 

His job requires media interaction. It doesnt require that he bare his soul. Some seem to want a public tar and feathering of a kid that said something inappropriate in a private text message while he was in college. Its silly.

Is this tar and feathering happening on top of the mountain that doc claims this is? Some of y’all are drama queens.

[Don Otreply]

25 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said:

So he should have just said “i’m just here so i dont get fined, boss”?

 

His job requires media interaction. It doesnt require that he bare his soul. Some seem to want a public tar and feathering of a kid that said something inappropriate in a private text message while he was in college. Its silly.

No one is asking him to bare his soul. Jake is unfortunate to be in his current circumstance, but at the end of the day it was he who supplied the fuel for the fire as it were, ya see, when this happened to Josh, he owned it, and grew from it, and it is behind him.  Jake is playing the deflection game, and by doing so he is just prolonging his troubles with this situation. The boy needs to own what he said, and only then can he move on. 
 

Go Bills!!!

[Sig1Hunter]

11 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

he has plenty of obligations and things he’d be accountable to each and every day. You only care about one. 

Is this tar and feathering happening on top of the mountain that doc claims this is? Some of y’all are drama queens.

There’s one thing we agree on, it seems. Some of y’all are indeed drama queens. He was a dude in college.  He texted something to someone inappropriate. He expressed regret over texting what he did. Get over it.

2 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

No one is asking him to bare his soul. Jake is unfortunate to be in his current circumstance, but at the end of the day it was he who supplied the fuel for the fire as it were, ya see, when this happened to Josh, he owned it, and grew from it, and it is behind him.  Jake is playing the deflection game, and by doing so he is just prolonging his troubles with this situation. The boy needs to own what he said, and only then can he move on. 
 

Go Bills!!!

Didn’t he own it when it came out? But now the reporter wants to drag it back up and make sure that he keeps owning it?  When can he move on? Its his teammates that he is accountable to. Not you, or me, or Marcel Louis Jacques. Its all just silly.

[Ralonzo]

The world could use a big dose of Lighten Up Francis

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 hours ago, JoPoy88 said:

that would be ideal, yes. But for better or worse, Fromm’s entry into the league was coupled with this texting story, and currently reporters see it as the most popular interesting thing about him; certainly more interesting than his prospects as a possible third string QB on a team with an entrenched starter. 
 

honestly, I don’t see the point in talking to him at all. 

 

I agree with that last.  Fair time why don’t they put Webb out to interview?  Oh that’s right no one wants to talk to the practice squad guy.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I have explained it numerous times but to me starting his answer with it would be better if everyone loved God first and people second says "well how I deal with people and society problems doesn't matter that much anyway cos God is more important and I am religious so my faith gets me off the hook." 

 

Now a number have posters of faith have attempted to explain to me that to Jake that may not have been what he really meant based on his understanding of the bible. But it isn't my job or the job of anyone else digesting these comments on the other end to interpret his faith and what he really meant. The duty is on Jake to explain it and just saying "well God is first" is a cop out. 

I know you’re fielding multiple inquiries so I’ll bow out with this.

 

I’m not here to debate the relative merit of his views on religion, only to try and understand how him sharing his deeply held beliefs ultimately became unacceptable to someone else and their deeply held personal beliefs, and why it even matters as it relates to a “cop out”.  
 

He answered the way he wanted to answer.  He hurt no one, offered no controversial take on the world (except, I suppose, for those who aren’t fans of Bible beaters), and quite likely will be even less forthcoming in the future.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

11 hours ago, 4merper4mer said:

My recollection was that Fromm implied nobody should have guns...then joked....well maybe elite white people.  I took that to mean most whites would also be excluded.  Elite is definitely a qualifying word.

 

Not guns, suppressors.

15 hours ago, Doc said:

Yeah, Fromm wasn’t talking about guns: he was talking about suppressors, a.k.a. silencers. In a private text to a girl he was probably trying to impress with a bed, miss placed joke.  Somehow that got interpreted to mean that he was talking about black people.  And anyone wonders why he doesn’t want to answer the question?

 

Spellcheck issue I’m sure, but I cracked up because as written it may just have a lot to do with the whole text interaction and motivations to leak it ?

[Big Turk]

I mean now we have thought police out there that determine what is and is acceptable? Is this turning into The Minority Report? Is he one of the precogs?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 hours ago, Muppy said:

I understand that folks would have wanted to hear a more extended answer than what he gave. The fact he didnt want to elaborate in a more illustrative fashion to his full thoughts was his choice. He has his reasons for that. Im guessing they involve not wanting to say anything he said to be misconstrued and bring further drama and attention to his past situation.    I'll end this by saying the "unacceptable" verbiage was a poor choice of words and this conversation likely wouldn't be occurring if MLJ hadn't labeled it such. Which also has been stated in this thread. 

 

Yeah, that doesn’t fly with me.  The previous part of the interview featured him saying he’d spent the past months having discussions with people from different backgrounds and being exposed to different points of view.  GIVEN THAT, my take is it’s 100% fair to ask him essentially “so what have you learned from all that?” 

 

And then in that context, love God first and love people is 100% weak sauce, a non-responsive answer.  If these really were discussions about black friends and teammates experience of life including racial inequity, it’s incredible to believe that was the learning from it and not a personal belief he held before during and after.  If he doesn’t want to answer, why not just say “this is still a topic I’m learning about and I want to keep my discussions private”?  That would be a responsive answer.

 

I deeply respect people of faith but it shouldn’t be a “get out of  accountability free” card.

 

And again, this isn’t your point but it is to others - there are football fields of room between a generic scriptural answer and embracing a political movement.

[NoSaint]

46 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said:

There’s one thing we agree on, it seems. Some of y’all are indeed drama queens. He was a dude in college.  He texted something to someone inappropriate. He expressed regret over texting what he did. Get over it.

Didn’t he own it when it came out? But now the reporter wants to drag it back up and make sure that he keeps owning it?  When can he move on? Its his teammates that he is accountable to. Not you, or me, or Marcel Louis Jacques. Its all just silly.

 

i think it’s upsetting you more than most, which is of course often the irony of the people most loudly proclaiming we must get over it. 
 

mild acknowledgement that something less than ideal happened is met with much push back. Like 70% of this thread isn’t even about Fromm it’s about how goofy people sound trying to bury it instead of just acknowledging and rolling onward 

[Mango]

There was a slam dunk follow up there. “Jake, what people need to love god first and people second? Are you saying that loving people first is bad?”

[HamSandwhich]

19 hours ago, NoSaint said:

sure thing... the one saying he’s free to answer and people are free to react is the one against freedom

No answer as to your epistemology. Just wondering what drives your world view? 

[teef]

Grumble!

[Doc]

35 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Spellcheck issue I’m sure, but I cracked up because as written it may just have a lot to do with the whole text interaction and motivations to leak it ?

Intentional, spellchecker or Freudian slip? You be the judge.

Edited August 8, 2020 by Doc

[Hapless Bills Fan]

11 hours ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

I’ve seen this posted a few times here.  
 

Would you be willing to share what you mean by this?   What, exactly is he copping out from?  Did he not want to share his stories of  personal growth because it was just that-intensely personal and private?  Or, are you of the mind he experienced no personal growth at all, and thus had nothing to share and chose not to be honest?  
 

I suppose I’m struck by the fact that a young man who nearly decapitated his career before it began would ever speak to any reporter, ever.  There is very little upside for him.  

 

I doubt Fromm had a choice about speaking to the reporters.  Press availability is part of the football players contract.  If the team says “get out there and talk to the press” you go.

 

My take and I could be wrong, is that if he said “I’m still listening and learning and I want to keep my conversations personal and private” M L-J would have respected that.  I know if Fromm said that and M L-J sniped at it, my respect for L-J would have plummeted.

 

Copping out - if you assert that you’ve spent the last 2 months having difficult conversations and broadening your viewpoint, and someone asks your opinion on social injustice in this country - presumably something that came up in those convos or might be influenced by those convos - the response he gave does not appear to reflect 2 months of conversations on the topic that Fromm mentioned as taking place thus in that regard is a “cop out”.  I completely understand that Fromm doesn’t want to express an opinion on riots in Portland or painting Black Lives Matter in the street (Hell, I wouldn’t myself to reporters) but as I’ve said before, there’s plenty of space in between.  Something like “Racism is unacceptable and I’ll keep the details private, but I’m learning it’s been part of my teammates experience growing up in the last 10 years and that’s wrong”.

3 minutes ago, Doc said:

Intentional, spellchecker or Freudian slip? You’ll be the judge.

 

Nah, but I laughed at it.

[C.Biscuit97]

2 hours ago, Jpsredemption said:

Stupid text messages from a kid in his early twenties. I know no one else has ever said anything they regret in their early twenties. Fromm should be ashamed. 

I mean how can we not cut him? The guy in his early 30s who made Anti-Semitic comments was ousted right away...oh wait. 

First of all, I think you’re talking about Desean Jackson.  He’s a complete moron and I would have cut him if I’m Philadelphia.  Philadelphia is also the team that didn’t cut Riley Cooper so that would be a while neither mess (personally, I would cut both of those idiots).  
 

second of all, the Jackson story was way bigger than Fromm.  He’s also made numerous apologies and is going to visit with a Holocaust survivor in auschwitz; spoke with Edelman and is trying to visit the Jewish museum in Washington; and is donating money to Jewish organizations.  https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2020/07/13/desean-jackson-accepts-holocaust-survivors-invite-to-visit-auschwitz/amp/ 

 

Slightly more than love God, love people. 

13 hours ago, Gene1973 said:

 

We'll see, think this reporter just showed some real ugliness.

Because he asked a guy who talked about elite whites a question about what he has learned?  

13 hours ago, Gene1973 said:

Black reporter trying to get a white player to either kneel at the altar of BLM or step in it, Fromm did neither, great job IMO.

At least you aren’t hiding it. 

[Don Otreply]

34 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said:

There’s one thing we agree on, it seems. Some of y’all are indeed drama queens. He was a dude in college.  He texted something to someone inappropriate. He expressed regret over texting what he did. Get over it.

Didn’t he own it when it came out? But now the reporter wants to drag it back up and make sure that he keeps owning it?  When can he move on? Its his teammates that he is accountable to. Not you, or me, or Marcel Louis Jacques. Its all just silly.

Yes we all have said or done something stupid when we were young, but Jake, the clever guy, he put it on the internet... will people never learn???  I’m no angel as you might guess, and damn glad that social media in its current form didn’t exist when I was in my youth.  Its my issue with those that throw god around as if it absolves them of their actions, it just doesn’t ring true for me. 

 

Go Bills!!!

[NoSaint]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I doubt Fromm had a choice about speaking to the reporters.  Press availability is part of the football players contract.  If the team says “get out there and talk to the press” you go.

 

My take and I could be wrong, is that if he said “I’m still listening and learning and I want to keep my conversations personal and private” M L-J would have respected that.  I know if Fromm said that and M L-J sniped at it, my respect for L-J would have plummeted.

 

Copping out - if you assert that you’ve spent the last 2 months having difficult conversations and broadening your viewpoint, and someone asks your opinion on social injustice in this country - presumably something that came up in those convos or might be influenced by those convos - the response he gave does not appear to reflect 2 months of conversations on the topic that Fromm mentioned as taking place thus in that regard is a “cop out”.  I completely understand that Fromm doesn’t want to express an opinion on riots in Portland or painting Black Lives Matter in the street (Hell, I wouldn’t myself to reporters) but as I’ve said before, there’s plenty of space in between.  Something like “Racism is unacceptable and I’ll keep the details private, but I’m learning it’s been part of my teammates experience growing up in the last 10 years and that’s wrong”.

 

Nah, but I laughed at it.

it’s really not as difficult as many are trying to portray. 
 

“I’ll preface this with acknowledging my prior mistake and that I’m a work in progress so I’m not sure that I am the one to do a deep dive with the media into complex racial issues that face the country right now. I will say that I see the pain and anger out there and have heard a lot of stories and facts in those conversations I mentioned. (Maybe insert soomething he learned from them here) 
 

Without a deep dive What I can say though is we all have to work harder at making a society where everyone is treated fairly. I have been using my faith to center me in my journey along that path. I find I’m at my best when I’m serving god and loving my fellow man. Sometimes my own actions don’t live up to that but I’m working on it and hope we can all work on caring for each other”

 

he had months to prep for this question, and had to know it was coming. 

[Sig1Hunter]

25 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

i think it’s upsetting you more than most, which is of course often the irony of the people most loudly proclaiming we must get over it. 
 

mild acknowledgement that something less than ideal happened is met with much push back. Like 70% of this thread isn’t even about Fromm it’s about how goofy people sound trying to bury it instead of just acknowledging and rolling onward 

Lol. You think wrong. But it’s cool if you want to keep telling me what you think about how I think. That’s kind of the point with those who have issues with how this thing occurred. 

Just now, Don Otreply said:

Yes we all have said or done something stupid when we were young, but Jake, the clever guy, he put it on the internet... will people never learn???  I’m no angel as you might guess, and damn glad that social media in its current form didn’t exist when I was in my youth.  Its my issue with those that throw god around as if it absolves them of their actions, it just doesn’t ring true for me. 

 

Go Bills!!!

Again, he didnt put it on the internet. He texted it in a private text which was then released by that person so he would be outed as a racist. 

[Don Otreply]

8 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said:

Lol. You think wrong. But it’s cool if you want to keep telling me what you think about how I think. That’s kind of the point with those who have issues with how this thing occurred. 

Again, he didnt put it on the internet. He texted it in a private text which was then released by that person so he would be outed as a racist. 

How you think? I was expressing my thoughts about Jakes situation.

 There is no such thing as a private text... will people never learn???

Edited August 8, 2020 by Don Otreply

[NoSaint]

6 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said:

Again, he didnt put it on the internet. He texted it in a private text which was then released by that person so he would be outed as a racist. 

Though perhaps a distinction without too terribly much of a difference. 
 

“he did it but he didn’t think people would know about it” only moves the needle so far in the conversation. 
 

 

[ALF]

I like Marcel-Louis so far and give Fromm the benefit of a doubt at his age.

[C.Biscuit97]

Also, this was his tweet after this happened.  https://mobile.twitter.com/FrommJake/status/1268606432125030401
he says he wants to be part of the solution in this country.  So why after months, can’t a reporter ask what he is has done and it not be a bit disappointing that he didn’t have more of an answer than he gave?  
 

trust me, I know Fromm isn’t the problem in this country.  But he could be more part of the solution.  
 

also, if my girlfriend ever catches me doing something bad, I’m just going to say “The one thing that I want to do here on this earth is love God and love people.”

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

26 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I doubt Fromm had a choice about speaking to the reporters.  Press availability is part of the football players contract.  If the team says “get out there and talk to the press” you go.

 

My take and I could be wrong, is that if he said “I’m still listening and learning and I want to keep my conversations personal and private” M L-J would have respected that.  I know if Fromm said that and M L-J sniped at it, my respect for L-J would have plummeted.

 

Copping out - if you assert that you’ve spent the last 2 months having difficult conversations and broadening your viewpoint, and someone asks your opinion on social injustice in this country - presumably something that came up in those convos or might be influenced by those convos - the response he gave does not appear to reflect 2 months of conversations on the topic that Fromm mentioned as taking place thus in that regard is a “cop out”.  I completely understand that Fromm doesn’t want to express an opinion on riots in Portland or painting Black Lives Matter in the street (Hell, I wouldn’t myself to reporters) but as I’ve said before, there’s plenty of space in between.  Something like “Racism is unacceptable and I’ll keep the details private, but I’m learning it’s been part of my teammates experience growing up in the last 10 years and that’s wrong”.

 

Nah, but I laughed at it.

Agreed—the team likely dictates availability.  They are unable to dictate performance, tone, verbiage, comfort, trepidation and trust of the inquisitor.  With the little media training I have had personally, the best piece of advice is always “Be wary, trust no one.”.  In addition, some people are very comfortable with the media, some suck at it.  
 

We may well have seen a different Fromm had he not created a major mess for himself in trusting the wrong people with dopey jokes, memes, edgy content or even his personal beliefs.  
 

I certainly agree he could have said more, I just don’t see all the hubbub that he didn’t say more.  A year ago, he was just a guy.  Now, he’s a lightning rod, at least on a regional level.  
 

Copping out, IMO, is “I don’t want to get into that.”.   

[Hapless Bills Fan]

58 minutes ago, Mango said:

There was a slam dunk follow up there. “Jake, what people need to love god first and people second? Are you saying that loving people first is bad?”

 

Oh boy.  That would be....

[HappyDays]

27 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

it’s really not as difficult as many are trying to portray. 
 

“I’ll preface this with acknowledging my prior mistake and that I’m a work in progress so I’m not sure that I am the one to do a deep dive with the media into complex racial issues that face the country right now. I will say that I see the pain and anger out there and have heard a lot of stories and facts in those conversations I mentioned. (Maybe insert soomething he learned from them here) 
 

Without a deep dive What I can say though is we all have to work harder at making a society where everyone is treated fairly. I have been using my faith to center me in my journey along that path. I find I’m at my best when I’m serving god and loving my fellow man. Sometimes my own actions don’t live up to that but I’m working on it and hope we can all work on caring for each other”

 

he had months to prep for this question, and had to know it was coming. 

 

Yeah, I don't expect Fromm to say all that. He's a 22 year old jock from Georgia. I think it is crazy to expect him to have a perfect answer on what he thinks about racial tension in America. And I don't think he should have to study up on it because he made an insensitive joke in a private conversation. He has answered for the text. He doesn't have to also solve world peace.

[Ga boy]

48 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Yeah, that doesn’t fly with me.  The previous part of the interview featured him saying he’d spent the past months having discussions with people from different backgrounds and being exposed to different points of view.  GIVEN THAT, my take is it’s 100% fair to ask him essentially “so what have you learned from all that?” 

 

And then in that context, love God first and love people is 100% weak sauce, a non-responsive answer.  If these really were discussions about black friends and teammates experience of life including racial inequity, it’s incredible to believe that was the learning from it and not a personal belief he held before during and after.  If he doesn’t want to answer, why not just say “this is still a topic I’m learning about and I want to keep my discussions private”?  That would be a responsive answer.

 

I deeply respect people of faith but it shouldn’t be a “get out of  accountability free” card.

 

And again, this isn’t your point but it is to others - there are football fields of room between a generic scriptural answer and embracing a political movement.

In trying to connect the dots, if his faith is real (and from what I know, it is), I would think his conversations were faith-based and he asked for forgiveness.  I don’t think he is looking for a free pass.  I’m sure his text being exposed made him self evaluate the consistency of his beliefs.  No wonder that so many are self censoring when a guy talks about his faith, he gets hammered.  Yes, we wouldn’t be talking about this with your suggested response.  

[NoSaint]

15 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

Agreed—the team likely dictates availability.  They are unable to dictate performance, tone, verbiage, comfort, trepidation and trust of the inquisitor.  With the little media training I have had personally, the best piece of advice is always “Be wary, trust no one.”.  In addition, some people are very comfortable with the media, some suck at it.  
 

We may well have seen a different Fromm had he not created a major mess for himself in trusting the wrong people with dopey jokes, memes, edgy content or even his personal beliefs.  
 

I certainly agree he could have said more, I just don’t see all the hubbub that he didn’t say more.  A year ago, he was just a guy.  Now, he’s a lightning rod, at least on a regional level.  
 

Copping out, IMO, is “I don’t want to get into that.”.   

 

honestly, I think this would’ve been a 4 and a half page thread and on page 2 already if not for the “how dare you attack his religion” sentiment early on. I don’t think anyone’s passionately against Fromm so much as baffled by those defending as if he’s facing heavy attack.

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah, I don't expect Fromm to say all that. He's a 22 year old jock from Georgia. I think it is crazy to expect him to have a perfect answer on what he thinks about racial tension in America. And I don't think he should have to study up on it because he made an insensitive joke in a private conversation. He has answered for the text. He doesn't have to also solve world peace.

I gave the “spend 5 minutes chatting media presence with his agent” answer. It was a total punt and you equate it to solving world peace? He’s the one that said he wants to be part of the answer and months later said he had been studying up on it.