Finnegan says he was talking about Tim Walton, not the Rams/PFT

  • To unlock all of features of Rams On Demand please take a brief moment to register. Registering is not only quick and easy, it also allows you access to additional features such as live chat, private messaging, and a host of other apps exclusive to Rams On Demand.

Prime Time

PT
Moderator
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Messages
20,922
Name
Peter
Cortland Finnegan vs. Mike Florio ... who ya got?
By Ryan Van Bibber@justRVB on Jun 26 2014

138022249.0_standard_709.0.jpg

Scott Halleran

Somehow Finnegan's words got twisted around by the li'l guy. And the Dolphins cornerback called him out on it.

Co rtland Finnegan versus Mike Florio is a fight I would pay to watch. Seriously. But I want it to be like a "two men enter, one man leaves" kind of thing. And all of it stems from -- surprise! -- Florio taking Finnegan's comments and injecting his own meaning into them.

It all started with this post at PFT, in which Finnegan called Tim Walton's defensive scheme "atrocious." It was actually a quote he gave the Miami Herald. He added his opinion that Walton was over his head.

No surprise here, and nothing that most of us here at TST wouldn't agree with. Remember how much better the Rams defense played late last season once Jeff Fisher reportedly got more directly involved in calling the D?

Fast forward to Wednesday evening. PFT posted this brief hit about some unknown sources with the Rams firing back at Finnegan.

Pause. Up until this point, Finnegan's comments and the back-and-forth over them centered on Walton being over his head. In the Wednesday post at PFT, Florio expanded the target area:

A source with knowledge of the team's thinking tells PFT that the problem with Finnegan had far less to do with the coaching or the schemes and far more to do with Finnegan.

Some believe the Rams actually played better without Finnegan, who eventually landed on injured reserve in November with a fracture of the orbital bone. We're told that Finnegan initially tried to play with the injury and that, as he struggled, the injury became a crutch.


Emphasis added is mine. Because this is the kind of shady sourcing where PFT usually ends up tripping all over itself ... it's also the kind of gossip blog fodder that's made PFT so dang popular.

Dollars to donuts that's an agent telling Florio that, more than likely Tim Walton's agent. When it's a team source, they'll usually say that. Whatever terminology they used, it's a shitty way to report that information, which really isn't information at all ... just gossip with a fresh coat of paint to pass it off as INSIDER TALK.

There's no question that Finnegan's play was way off last season, to the point of being detrimental to the Rams defense when he was on the field. Everyone here also watched more than enough games to notice that Finnegan wasn't the only problem the Rams defense had.

But then again, Florio excels at making word salad with long-winded sentences written in the passive voice. He also suffers from being Florio, a troll living under the bridge where INSIDER meets BLOGGER, writing shit like this:

While Finnegan currently is saying all the right things in Miami, those who know him predict it's simply a matter of time before he has issues with the coaching staff there - especially if he struggles and needs someone other than himself to blame for it.

Emphasis added is mine.

Alright, that's a lot of setup for the best part of this whole thing, Cortland Finnegan calling out Mike Florio. And having more than a leg to stand on in doing so.

From Florio:

He took issue with my characterization of his attack on Walton as an attack on the Rams. Finnegan said that he wasn't talking about the Rams, only about Walton. I told Finnegan that, because Walton was a member of the Rams coaching staff, Finnegan necessarily was talking about the Rams.

Of course he did. And he was right to do so. Finnegan's comments -- right or wrong -- are very clearly focused on Walton, and not the Rams. Finnegan's been a player in good standing with Jeff Fisher for a long, long time.

That segment right there makes you wonder about Florio's initial "report" about someone with knowledge of the team's thinking. It stinks already, but the eau de toilet really kicks in when Florio tries to defend his paragraph about Finnegan and his coaches in Miami.

... Finnegan particularly wasn't pleased with the last paragraph of the article: "While Finnegan currently is saying all the right things in Miami, those who know him predict ... "

What? A player took issue with a broad characterization from a national media outlet about his ability to get along with coaches on the team that signed him to a free agent deal this spring?

The brave man naturally stood by his words, using them as a human shield.

While "those" would have been more accurate if the word "some" had been used (and I regret not using "some" instead of "those"), Finnegan accused me of expressing an opinion that he can't get along with coaches. I tried to explain to Finnegan that it's not my opinion, and that the information came from a source in position to appropriately have that opinion.

It's not Mike's opinion, he just wrote it that way.

Mike, that's not a poor choice of words, that's bullshit. If it's your opinion that Finnegan will eventually run afoul of his coaches, then state it. Don't hide behind your vocabulary and being too cheap to hire an editor for yourself.

By this point, it's all off the rails. Completely off the rails, to the point where Finnegan is supposedly threatening Florio.

Nothing more gets mentioned about how Florio took Finnegan's characterization of Walton and turned it into a characterization about the entire Rams staff.

Finnegan did add this when talking about Walton:

"Was he not?" Finnegan shot back. "Call James Laurinaitis. Call Chris Long. Call Robert Quinn. Coach Fisher fired him."

Okay, I stopped for a minute. Where was I?

Oh, yes, back where we've always been, Florio being a tool.This time a player called him out on it, something only a player like Cortland Finnegan can get away with.

It's worth reminding you here that Mike Florio once got into a shouting match with a mascot on Twitter. He even lied about how many page views per month he gets ... TO A MAN IN A JAGUAR SUIT. Think about that next time Bob Costas sends it over the li'l guy at halftime on Sunday Night Football for an update on the things you heard about 4 hours earlier.

Mike Florio versus Cortland Finnegan is very much a duel we would like to see, 10 rounds of bare-knuckle boxing. For charity. We'll gladly kick in for the whole affair.​
 

LumberTubs

As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,424
Name
Phil
If a professional sportsman was to take exception to all articles written about him in this way, then he'd end up with one hell of a phone bill. I hope Cortland has all inclusive minutes on his mobile phone contract
 

Oldgeek

I'm old and can't wait another 20 years for a SB W
Joined
Jun 28, 2011
Messages
640
Name
Steve
Cortlands game is pressure at the LOS and getting in the WRs head. Hard to do when you are playing 10 yards off the LOS. As with most things, Florio thew in some stuff to make the article more interesting. Cortlands game has declined and he is sensitive about it. Who on here thought Walton had a clue on running the D? Not me!
 

LazyWinker

Pro Bowler
Joined
Jun 19, 2014
Messages
1,662
Name
Paul
Florio is such a bitch. I mean, really.

Finnegan didn’t accept that explanation, questioning my “morals” and “backbone” before adding that if/when we meet, the conversation will be more interesting.

I approve this message too.
If having morals and a backbone includes recklessly quoting "anonymous" sources than Mike Florio is a great human being.
 

Rmfnlt

Rams On Demand Sponsor
Rams On Demand Sponsor
Joined
Jun 3, 2014
Messages
5,342
Finnegan was great at first. His first season here, the first what, 4 games he had a pick. Then he leveled off, didn't play bad, but nothing spectacular. Then last year, that was a freaking joke. That was on him. Scheme doesn't make you get burned that bad, that often and let yourself get replaced by a 2nd year guy(Tru). I liked his fire, but I'm glad he and his inflated contract are gone.

Agree... that fire, at times, got the team in trouble. And this episode is consistent with that "fire".

I prefer professionals who do their talking with their play... on and off the field.

My best example of all time - IMO - is Derek Jeter.
 

jjab360

Legend
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
6,636
Why is anybody acting like Finnegan vs Florio would be a fight worth watching? Finnegan is a professional athlete with a boxer's physique and a bad attitude, it would be an absolute massacre.