Less than two weeks before the start of the 2024 NFL season, Brandon Aiyuk is still a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
But while Aiyuk’s uncertain future with the franchise added some unexpected excitement to the 49ers’ preseason, it seemed to create even more drama in the sports media.
The last commenter on this topic is San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Mike Silver, who discussed Aiyuk’s status during an appearance on KNBR’s Tolbert and Copes Show on Thursday. The longtime NFL reporter criticized the coverage of Aiyuk, who is seeking a new contract and/or a transfer.
“There were some graphic and ridiculous reports on it,” Silver said. “There was good reporting on it – Matt Maiocco (of NBC Sports Bay Area) did a great job. Mike Garafolo from my old employer, the NFL Network, did a good job. I don’t want to pigeonhole every one of my fellow journalists, but there were some fake journalists and even a few real ones who went on a massive rant – ‘it’s over!'”
One of these “pseudo-journalists” is probably the social media account PrettyRickey213, which apparently had been aware of important NFL news earlier and continued to “report” that Aiyuk would land with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But despite praising Garafolo seconds earlier, Silver criticized his former colleague from the NFL Network’s coverage of the issue.
“Even Garafolo is like, ‘Hey, they’re only calculating the fourth year.’ I love Mike G., I would never question his reporting,” Silver said before doing just that. “That seems crazy. ‘They’ve got everything set up except the fourth year,’ which we all think is a bogus number to inflate the annual average.”
To quote Dan Le Batard in his response to Jay Bilas, “You can’t start a sentence with ‘no offense’ and then say ‘that’s stupid'” (to which Bilas replied, “OK, take offense. It’s stupid.”) Nor can you say you’d never question a colleague’s reporting before doing just that (although I suppose you can, given what Silver did here).
Ultimately, Silver’s ire seemed to be directed primarily at the anonymous social media accounts, as he explained that he understood why fans were exhausted by the whole Aiyuk situation (but if he does end up in Pittsburgh, watch out). Still, it was odd to see Garafolo attacked like that, considering both his track record as a reporter and his relationship with Silver.
At the heart of the Aiyuk saga is a player unhappy with his current situation and a team that seems happy to tell its side of the story through the media. In other words, it’s hardly surprising that there have been conflicting narratives in this obviously volatile situation.
