Time for the NFL media to stop quoting anonymous sources

John Morgan

Nov 14, 2012 at 3:37pm ET

The big news today is that some anonymous defensive starter for the Jets has called out one of his teammates, Tim Tebow, using the New York Daily News to declare that he is "terrible".

While I as a fan of the Patriots am enjoying a certain amount of schadenfreude in sitting back and watching gang green implode, I have to say that I think that it is extremely cowardly for this player (and apparently several others) to publicly comment behind the cloak of anonymity. To me it reeks of something 12 or 14 year old girls would do to ostracize somebody outside of their social clique; it is ironic that grown men who participate in such a physical sport would be reduced to what amounts to non-physical bullying. The fact that Tebow is not a very good passer is irrelevant; this has everything to do with the character (or lack of) by those that made the comments.

This is not an isolated incident either. Just last week over 100 players took part in an anonymous survey and responded to a question asking who was the most overrated coach. They were under no obligation to respond, but that many felt compelled to give their opinion on the tactless survey regardless.

Earlier this season a nameless NFC North general manager criticized the Detroit's executives, coaches and players via Pro Football Weekly. After Lions' center Dominic Raiola responded, the anonymous GM went all internet bully, stating the following through PFW:

"I saw Dominic Raiola called me out, asking who the aimless, anonymous GM is who criticized the great Lions? Who is this person? It's the guy who rejects you every time he watches your tape and thinks you are a complete fraud. It's the guy who didn't think you could play when you came out of college and still doesn't think you can play now. If he spent as much time working the other muscles in his body as he does his jaw, he might have had the chance to be an average backup. You can put that in print!"

Wow, what courage; how brave of him! The rival GM throws down the challenge, 'you can put that in print', as if it was some dramatic scene from an old Steven Segal movie - all while gutlessly refusing to put his name to the quote, hiding behind an unidentified internet firewall.

Media members dug and found out who blew the whistle on the New Orleans Saints' bounty case; that was a situation where that person's identity deserved to be protected and kept secret. If the media really wants to do their job then they should use their investigative tools to find out who in the Jets locker room made those statements, and who the GM is that made those comments about Raiola - and publicly identify both of them. Their cowardly actions deserve disclosure, and to have the spotlight turned on them.

This Day In Patriots History

November 14, 1965:
New York Jets 30, Boston Patriots 20 at Fenway Park

Rookie Joe Namath threw two touchdown passes to Don Maynard as the Jets won their third game of the year. The Patriots fell behind by three touchdowns in the first half, leading Babe Parilli to throw a career-high 50 passes for the Pats, a franchise record that would stand for thirty years. His touchdown passes to Gino Cappelletti and J. D. Garrett closed the deficit to 24-17 at halftime, but the Pats were never able to tie it up or take the lead. Larry Garron had 4 receptions for 77 yards out of the backfield, Jim Whalen had 6 catches for 73 yards and Jim Colclough had 5 for 68 yards; Parilli finished 275 yards passing for the day.

November 14, 1971:
New England Patriots 38, Buffalo Bills 33 at Schaefer Stadium

Despite playing with a hamstring injury, rookie Jim Plunkett played his best game yet of the season in a win over the Bills. Plunkett was 9-16 for 218 yards and career-high four touchdowns against only one interception in the victory.

After Buffalo returned a punt for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead, Plunkett connected with Randy Vataha on a 16-yard pass to tie the score, then early in the second quarter put the Pats ahead on a 10-yard TD to Tom Beer; Beer also contribute later with a fumble recovery off a Bills' punt return. Buffalo went back up 17-14 but Plunkett immediately responded with an 80-yard touchdown to Carl Garrett, and then Roland Moss scored on a blocked punt.

Garrett finished with 118 yards from scrimmage, Vataha had 63 yards on three receptions, Bob Gladieux had 48 yards on just four carries, and Eric Crabtree scored the final Pats' touchdown on a 31-yard pass from Plunkett.

November 14, 1976:
New England Patriots 21, Baltimore Colts 14 at Memorial Stadium

Mike Haynes had his first multiple interception game, ending two crucial Colts’ drives by picking off passes thrown by Baltimore quarterback Bert Jones to preserve the Pats victory. It was just the second loss of the season for the Colts and pulled the Patriots within one game of Baltimore for lead of the AFC East.

Don Calhoun rushed for a then-career high 141 yards for the Patriots, while Steve Grogan ran for two touchdowns and passed for another, to backup TE Al Chandler as the Pats improved their record to 7-3.

November 14, 2004:
New England Patriots 29, Buffalo Bills 6 at Gillette Stadium

In front of a national audience on Sunday Night Football the Patriots scored on four of their first five possessions to take a 20-0 lead and cruised from there, keeping pace with the Steelers for first seed in the AFC while improving their record to 8-1.

The Pats honored the Boston Red Sox, who had won the World Series a few days earlier, before the game. Adam Vinatieri kicked five field goals, Corey Dillon rushed for 151 yards on 26 carries and the Patriots intercepted four passes. Bills QB Drew Bledsoe tossed one pick to Troy Brown, a player to whom he had thrown 12 touchdown passes while both were with the Patriots, but was now playing corner due to injuries at the position. Tom Brady threw a pair of first half touchdown passes, one for 13 yards to David Patten and then a five yard pass to Christian Fauria for the 20-0 halftime lead.

The New England defense was immense, intercepting four Buffalo passes while limiting the Bills to just 50 yards on the ground, 81 passing, and a net total of 125 yards of offense; Buffalo's only score came on a punt return. A Willie McGinest sack led to a fumble recovered by Roman Phifer, while Tully Banta-Cain, Tedy Brushi and Eugene Wilson each joined Brown on the stat sheet with interceptions.

November 14, 2010:
New England Patriots 39, Pittsburgh Steelers 26 at Heinz Field

In another SNF game the Pats dominated, defeating the favored Steelers a week after being upset at Cleveland. Tom Brady threw for a season-high 350 yards and three touchdowns, all to rookie TE Rob Gronkowski, picking apart the NFL's fourth-ranked defense.

After forcing a three and out on the opening drive Brady mixed passes to Gronk and Alge Crumpler with runs by BenJarvus Green-Ellis to set up the first score, a 19-yard TD to Gronkowski. The Pats forced another punt and on the next drive Shayne Graham hit a 31-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 10-0 first quarter lead.

On the following drive Pittsburgh had to punt after Tully Banta-Cain sacked Ben Roethlisberger, but they scored three after forcing the Pats to punt for the first time; the half ended that way, with the Pats up 10-3.

Brady marched the Pats down the field on the opening possession of the second half, capped off by a 9-yard TD to Gronk. After a pair of punts Pittsburgh's Jeff Reed missed a 26-yard field goal and after a 45-yard completion to Brandon Tate on a post pattern Brady ran it in from three yards out, and put an exclamation point on the score with an emphatic spike. That gave the Patriots a 23-3 lead and the game was essentially over; any doubt was removed when James Sanders picked off a Roethlisberger pass that had been tipped by Patrick Chung and ran it 32 yards for a touchdown, giving the Pats a 29-10 lead with 8:32 left and sending Steeler fans to the exits. Pittsburgh scored a couple of garbage-time touchdowns but the game was not as close as the final score would lead you to believe.

Brady finished with 350 yards, three touchdown passes and the touchdown run while BJGE ran for 87 yards, the most against Pittsburgh's defense all season; Wes Welker was the leading receiver with 89 yards on 8 receptions and some key first downs.

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November 14, 1851:
Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick was published. At the time critics panned it as being too long and too dull; it did not have any commercial success until the 1920's, three decades after Melville's death.

November 14, 1882:
Gunslinger Franklin Leslie shot Billy The Kid dead in the streets of Tombstone Arizona.

November 14, 1941:
The Alfred Hitchcock film Suspicion premiered; the romantic thriller starred Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine.

November 14, 1960:
Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles became the new top single; it was the singer's first number one song.