Football Mellinger:Joining media won’t fix Scott Pioli’s NFL reputation - Page 5

**Tribal Warfare** · 07:59 PM

Joining media won’t fix Scott Pioli’s NFL reputation
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
Scott Pioli’s new life will require a microphone and makeup and there are a million jokes we can make here, some of them funny, all of them missing the point.

We can kid about how Pioli will begin a six-minute answer on live TV by asking to go “10,000 miles off the record,” or filibuster every segment by taking credit for the Patriots’ Super Bowls and continuing to blame his struggles with the Chiefs on Carl Peterson. But all of this misses the point.

Pioli’s name is a virtual curse word for many in the place he still calls home. The man who never saw much use for the media is now a member of the media. But if we can get away from jokes about candy wrappers and vitriolic banners flying at Arrowhead Stadium on game days and the “Right 53,” we can see what is happening here.

Pioli is making the predictable career move to join NBC’s Sunday night NFL studio show after being fired as Chiefs general manager in January.

And he’s kidding himself if he thinks this is the fix to a diminished reputation around the NFL.

“Evaluating in my old job the things I did well and the things I did not do well, I certainly believe understanding the media and what their job is was something I did not do a good job of,” Pioli told Sports Illustrated. “I thought this was a good opportunity to learn and grow, and get better in a lot of different areas.”

Pioli said those words in an SI.com piece that broke the news of his new career, which also will include appearances on NBC Sports Network. He didn’t respond to a message for this column, but if his goal is to get back into an NFL front office, his evaluation needs to go beyond how he dealt with the media.

Pioli is smart, driven, prepared, intellectually exhaustive and a hundred other things that could make him a productive part of a team’s front office. But he’ll remain a creation of Bill Belichick if he doesn’t understand what truly sunk him in Kansas City.

It’s true that Pioli was generally awful with the media, especially in his last year with the Chiefs. Usually, he just wouldn’t talk. When he did, his answers often alternated between condescending, defensive, rambling and amazingly self-unaware.

Pioli was awkward in interviews, overthinking every word. He was also obsessed with everything written or said about him, often quoting columns in the paper old enough that the links had expired.

But football people can be bad with the media and good at their jobs. Pioli knows this well after spending nine years working for Belichick in New England. But Belichick is good at his job. If Pioli is honest with himself, he’ll see he could’ve sent bags of manure to every reporter in town and kept his job as the Chiefs GM if he was good at it.

As much as he’d like to blame the media for his problems here — and Pioli started pushing that narrative to friends around the league months before he was finally fired — if he wants another chance, he’ll have to understand he was a rotten GM in ways that had nothing to do with media.

For starters, he hired two bad head coaches, blew way too many draft picks, and did precious little to strengthen the roster other than sign guys he inherited to long-term contracts.

But mostly, Pioli spent way too much time on things that had nothing to do with winning football games or bringing in better players.

Pioli talked a lot about creating “a championship environment” with the Chiefs, but mostly it turned into an environment where too many people were scared for their professional lives. Insecurity is why he spent so much time bad-mouthing what he took over from Peterson, tried to run the team’s communications department, and surrounded himself with too many yes-men to get honest self-evaluations.

Going on TV is a smart career move, considering that interest from NFL teams was apparently tepid. He’ll have the platform of network television every week, and if Pioli finds comfort in front of a camera then the football world might remember New England more and Kansas City less.

He’s a smart guy with a lot to offer in the right situation, and as a holding cell until something inside the league materializes, joining the NBC crew is a good move.

But to really prepare for another NFL job, Pioli needs to focus on the problems that surfaced in his four years running the Chiefs. The problems that matter have nothing to do with the media.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 06-17-2013, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J Diddy

Everytime you say Lil Chiefy, I'm going to put a hit out on one of them Sally Struthers kids that you could save with $1 a month.

Continue with the nonsense and their blood will be on your hands.

Send Dave. Maybe they'll eat his dumb ass.

TEX · 06-18-2013, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

**** that. That fat piece of shit needs to be treated like the rogue sperm that matriculated down his Mom's ass crack that he is.

This. Besides, the artilce is not bad - it's pretty much the truth. This is how life goes Scott - get over it.

Frazod · 06-18-2013, 10:24 AM

This is the difference between the local KC media and the national media.

On a national level, nobody cares what this piece of shit did to the Chiefs, because they don't care about the Chiefs, or anything in Kansas City. He's part of the NFL club, he's deeply connected, and they created a job for him. I'm sure they'll gloss over his raging failures here and focus on his time in New England.

I'm getting to the point where I can't stand to watch anything but the games themselves, so I really don't care all that much.

**the Talking Can** · 06-18-2013, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Fat Scott will eat a gallon of cookies and cream tonight, rereading Mellinger's column 500 times.

Suck our KC cocks, NE trash.

this brings me such an unhealthy amount of joy

Scott Pioli is the single biggest fraud in sports

Beef Supreme · 06-18-2013, 10:48 AM

I don't think Pioli rode Belichick's coat tails, I think Belichick and Pioli rode Tom Brady's coat tails. The Patriot way is stumbling over Tom Brady in the 6th round.

**Rausch** · 06-18-2013, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fritz88

" The man who never saw much use for the media is now a member of the media"

That's a killer.
Posted via Mobile Device

Wouldn't it be funny if the only reason they made him prom queen was to dump pig blood on him?...

TEX · 06-18-2013, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod

This is the difference between the local KC media and the national media.

On a national level, nobody cares what this piece of shit did to the Chiefs, because they don't care about the Chiefs, or anything in Kansas City. He's part of the NFL club, he's deeply connected, and they created a job for him. I'm sure they'll gloss over his raging failures here and focus on his time in New England.

I'm getting to the point where I can't stand to watch anything but the games themselves, so I really don't care all that much.

You ****ING said it brother!

Titty Meat · 06-18-2013, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet

I don't think Pioli rode Belichick's coat tails, I think Belichick and Pioli rode Tom Brady's coat tails. The Patriot way is stumbling over Tom Brady in the 6th round.

That's not true Pioli/BB went 11-5 with Matt Cassel

milkman · 06-19-2013, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo's Pelini

That's not true Pioli/BB went 11-5 with Matt Cassel

Bellichick is on his way to the HoF because of Tom Brady.

Dick Rebhorn, Charlie Weis and Josh McDaniels all played a role in getting Brady to New England and developing him into what he has become, as did Bellichick.

But without Brady, Belichick would be roughly on the same level as Marty in the coaching ranks.

ct · 06-19-2013, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo's Pelini

That's not true Pioli/BB went 11-5 with Matt Cassel

The 2010 Kansas City Chiefs with Pioli/Haley went 10-6 with Matt Cassel. What's your point?

Titty Meat · 06-19-2013, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ct

The 2010 Kansas City Chiefs with Pioli/Haley went 10-6 with Matt Cassel. What's your point?

Dumbass.

The point is brady isn't the only talented piece on the patriots.

mcaj22 · 06-19-2013, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod

This is the difference between the local KC media and the national media.

On a national level, nobody cares what this piece of shit did to the Chiefs, because they don't care about the Chiefs, or anything in Kansas City. He's part of the NFL club, he's deeply connected, and they created a job for him. I'm sure they'll gloss over his raging failures here and focus on his time in New England.

I'm getting to the point where I can't stand to watch anything but the games themselves, so I really don't care all that much.

Actually, on a national level ole Fat Scott is hated/disliked outside his little clique of Browns/Patriots tree buddies and a couple media people (Peter King)

he literally had a favor flown in to him ala his boy Lombardi leaving NFN for the Browns and Peter King. Those guys practically opened and help him get a seat on television.

There are only two or three teams hes connected to right now as most of the Patriots frauds have been finally driven away. The Falcons and Patriots. I do think him and Schiano in Tampa are buddies cause they have the same egotistical personalities and their convo caught on camera last year.

Fat Scott sucks and everyone knows it/is quick to turn on him. You heard Warren Sapp soundbit when his microphone wasnt turned off shitting all over Scott's Patriot Way bullshit segment on NFN during draft coverage. And the story about Mark Donovan going around the Chiefs the last few months apologizing to everyone he can about how the structure was under Fat Scott.

On a national level he is hated to the point where they want him ignored. In KC he had control and his own little bubble of friends he could keep giving million dollar jobs to even though they ****ing sucked at it.

This is also the reason he could never get a named coach or coordinator to sniff an interview in his four year run. I think even Jack Del Rio snubbed him, that is sad

**BigMeatballDave** · 06-19-2013, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Hate

Send Dave. Maybe they'll eat his dumb ass.

Dreaming about me again, I see...

06-17-2013, 05:40 PM
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-2967187	Mellinger:Joining media won’t fix Scott Pioli’s NFL reputation Joining media won’t fix Scott Pioli’s NFL reputation By SAM MELLINGER The Kansas City Star Scott Pioli’s new life will require a microphone and makeup and there are a million jokes we can make here, some of them funny, all of them missing the point. We can kid about how Pioli will begin a six-minute answer on live TV by asking to go “10,000 miles off the record,” or filibuster every segment by taking credit for the Patriots’ Super Bowls and continuing to blame his struggles with the Chiefs on Carl Peterson. But all of this misses the point. Pioli’s name is a virtual curse word for many in the place he still calls home. The man who never saw much use for the media is now a member of the media. But if we can get away from jokes about candy wrappers and vitriolic banners flying at Arrowhead Stadium on game days and the “Right 53,” we can see what is happening here. Pioli is making the predictable career move to join NBC’s Sunday night NFL studio show after being fired as Chiefs general manager in January. And he’s kidding himself if he thinks this is the fix to a diminished reputation around the NFL. “Evaluating in my old job the things I did well and the things I did not do well, I certainly believe understanding the media and what their job is was something I did not do a good job of,” Pioli told Sports Illustrated. “I thought this was a good opportunity to learn and grow, and get better in a lot of different areas.” Pioli said those words in an SI.com piece that broke the news of his new career, which also will include appearances on NBC Sports Network. He didn’t respond to a message for this column, but if his goal is to get back into an NFL front office, his evaluation needs to go beyond how he dealt with the media. Pioli is smart, driven, prepared, intellectually exhaustive and a hundred other things that could make him a productive part of a team’s front office. But he’ll remain a creation of Bill Belichick if he doesn’t understand what truly sunk him in Kansas City. It’s true that Pioli was generally awful with the media, especially in his last year with the Chiefs. Usually, he just wouldn’t talk. When he did, his answers often alternated between condescending, defensive, rambling and amazingly self-unaware. Pioli was awkward in interviews, overthinking every word. He was also obsessed with everything written or said about him, often quoting columns in the paper old enough that the links had expired. But football people can be bad with the media and good at their jobs. Pioli knows this well after spending nine years working for Belichick in New England. But Belichick is good at his job. If Pioli is honest with himself, he’ll see he could’ve sent bags of manure to every reporter in town and kept his job as the Chiefs GM if he was good at it. As much as he’d like to blame the media for his problems here — and Pioli started pushing that narrative to friends around the league months before he was finally fired — if he wants another chance, he’ll have to understand he was a rotten GM in ways that had nothing to do with media. For starters, he hired two bad head coaches, blew way too many draft picks, and did precious little to strengthen the roster other than sign guys he inherited to long-term contracts. But mostly, Pioli spent way too much time on things that had nothing to do with winning football games or bringing in better players. Pioli talked a lot about creating “a championship environment” with the Chiefs, but mostly it turned into an environment where too many people were scared for their professional lives. Insecurity is why he spent so much time bad-mouthing what he took over from Peterson, tried to run the team’s communications department, and surrounded himself with too many yes-men to get honest self-evaluations. Going on TV is a smart career move, considering that interest from NFL teams was apparently tepid. He’ll have the platform of network television every week, and if Pioli finds comfort in front of a camera then the football world might remember New England more and Kansas City less. He’s a smart guy with a lot to offer in the right situation, and as a holding cell until something inside the league materializes, joining the NBC crew is a good move. But to really prepare for another NFL job, Pioli needs to focus on the problems that surfaced in his four years running the Chiefs. The problems that matter have nothing to do with the media. Last edited by DaFace; 06-17-2013 at 07:59 PM..
Posts: 43,452

06-18-2013, 10:24 AM	#63
Frazod Did you hear what I said? Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $-756615	This is the difference between the local KC media and the national media. On a national level, nobody cares what this piece of shit did to the Chiefs, because they don't care about the Chiefs, or anything in Kansas City. He's part of the NFL club, he's deeply connected, and they created a job for him. I'm sure they'll gloss over his raging failures here and focus on his time in New England. I'm getting to the point where I can't stand to watch anything but the games themselves, so I really don't care all that much.
Posts: 121,769

06-18-2013, 10:48 AM	#65
Beef Supreme MVP Join Date: Oct 2010 Casino cash: $10019560	I don't think Pioli rode Belichick's coat tails, I think Belichick and Pioli rode Tom Brady's coat tails. The Patriot way is stumbling over Tom Brady in the 6th round.
Posts: 11,000