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Johnson boycott hurts sports viewers the most

By ERNEST HOOPER

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2000

Once he was the star of an ESPN commercial, and maybe the question "When do you watch SportsCenter?" still applies to Keyshawn Johnson.

But the bigger question these days is: When will you see Johnson on SportsCenter again? Johnson said Thursday it won't be in an interview this season, and the boycott may be longer.

Through comments to reporters and on his Web site, Johnson has made it clear he won't grant interviews to ESPN or CNN/Sports Illustrated. The Bucs receiver is mad at both cable channels, but for different reasons.

CNN/SI drew his ire by showing footage of him making an obscene gesture during practice Sept. 21. Johnson twice extended his middle finger at a CNN/SI cameraman, but insisted a day later he was merely joking around.

ESPN is on Johnson's bad list for pursuing a post-game interview after he had talked to reporters and left the locker room to greet friends from the Jets.

The ESPN cameras began taping Johnson as he conversed with the players and his agent, Jerome Stanley. Johnson said he politely asked the cameraman to stop taping because he was enjoying a private moment with friends. The cameraman stopped, then at the insistence of reporter Sal Paolantonio, started taping again. Johnson put his hand up and walked toward the camera, only to be coaxed away by Stanley.

The footage aired Sunday as part of the story on the Bucs loss.

Johnson is well within his rights to decline future interview requests, but are the two networks being shunned because they practiced good journalism, or crossed the boundaries of fairness?

In the case of CNN/SI, it's difficult to fault the network's decision to run the footage. Although Johnson was joking, he gave CNN/SI a visual no one else had, and it was sure to fuel ratings. Although the gesture told you little, if anything, about Johnson's preparation for the game, it still was, as CNN/SI managing editor Steve Robinson said, the way he chose to express himself to the cameraman.

The network may have been better off to frame the moment as Johnson joking around, if that was its understanding, and explain to viewers that Johnson was enjoying the media attention. Calling it a "wordless commentary" and offering no subtext left the moment up to interpretation. Still, Johnson admits he shouldn't give networks the chance to embarrass him.

And he's right.

ESPN's actions fall into a different category. The area underneath the stadium is not a public place and Johnson already had spent a considerable amount of time talking to reporters.

Still, it's not uncommon to see interviews conducted in the tunnel, but those are with permission.

What you have to question is ESPN's intent once Johnson declined the interview. He made it clear he wasn't going to answer questions, so the only advantage of continuing to roll tape is to get an angry reaction.

ESPN got that and used the footage to give the impression Johnson's post-game mood was strifed with anger. In reality, Johnson was down but calm and collected during his locker-room interview. SportsCenter viewers were misled.

Any celebrity who politely declines an interview should have his wish granted, especially someone as media friendly as Johnson.

The sad aspect of all of this is a lot of people will say Johnson is simply getting what he deserved because of all the boasting he did leading up to the game. Critics will argue the problems are a result of Johnson thrusting himself into the spotlight, not unfair treatment.

I don't buy it. By now, America's desire to shackle athletes with the archaic chains of humility should be over. Johnson exacts a degree of joy from dealing with reporters, but he also gives them what they want: candid answers laced with humor.

Consequently, fans get a better idea of who he is and what he believes, even if you don't agree with everything he says.

You may think Johnson's ego is too big or his comments about Wayne Chrebet are mean-spirited, but you know more about him than all of those "give 110 percent" guys. Maybe he should stop reiterating how he feels about Chrebet because it hurts his image, but he shouldn't stop being honest just to succumb to some predestined ideal about how athletes should behave.

Whose the big loser in Johnson's boycott? Fans.

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