Who is “Player X” and My Sports Breakthrough..
I have been patiently waiting a while now to find a sport’s story that I could include in this media blog and I think I finally found my moment. Although this blog may be on the boundary line for a “media” post, I feel that it has a large part to do with a media’s source, the effects it has on the public and the overall trend that a specific medium is using.
There has been a series of articles written for ESPN The Magazine involving behind the scenes details of the National Football League. The stores include the increased violence on the field, rookie hazing and ultimately, details that the ordinary fan would not know without the insight of the author. The only problem is that the writer is unknown, keeping his identity in secret from the public and more importantly, the league and its players. With ESPN being the “world wide leader in sports”, they have the biggest sports magazine in competition with Sports Illustrated and consequently, the biggest reputation in sports to protect. ESPN has issued these articles for over a couple months now and informs the reader that the individual writing the article, known as “Player X” is an NFL superstar. (I would’ve posted the link for the articles, but you have to be an ESPN inSider, which costs 3.99$ per month. I just so happened to have gotten lucky and read the articles through a third party source, which I cannot name.)
“Game On!” is a section in USA Today and writes on the “Player X” idea:
“ESPN The Magazine is launching a column by an NFL star dubbed “Player X” who’ll give readers his anonymous take on on athletes’ extra-marital affairs, dalliances with groupies and other taboo topics, says editor-in-chief Gary Belsky. In his first piece hitting newsstands Friday, the player admits that not only are many “negative” tales about pro athletes true, they’re actually worse in some cases. Player’s X’s teammates, coaches, agent and family don’t know he’s writing the column, Belsky says. It will be his call whether he wants to identify himself after penning 10-12 columns during the 2009 season.
An excerpt from ESPN The Magazine:
“I am Player X. I’m a professional athlete, and I’m here to give the readers of The Magazine my perspective — an NFL player’s perspective — as honestly as I can.
It’s a little crazy of me, to be honest. No one knows I’m doing this — not my teammates, coaches, family or representatives — but I think it’s important. Why? Because people talk about athletes all the time, but a lot of them don’t know what they’re talking about. I want to share what athletes think, straight from inside the locker room. I’m not here to snitch or call people out. I just want to show that the life of an athlete isn’t always what it appears to be.”
The question is: How far has “Player X” gone and will it go further? The most recent article involving the increased violence in the NFL, tells readers that the game is more dangerous than ever and someone eventually will end up being killed on the gridiron. “Player X” calls out Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward for his cheap shots and compares the game to war and more like being out on the battlefield.
After reading these articles, I was shocked to learn of all this as most of the violence is hidden from the viewers in the stands or at home. We see players getting hurt all of the time on the field, but the real pain comes in the locker room and hospitals where players receive cortisone shots and soak in ice baths for hours. After I was finished with the last line, I had a whole new opinion on the game of football.
My problem is that what happens “Player X’s” identity is leaked or he tells everyone who he is? His reputation may be tarnished on and off the field for calling out players and giving the public insight that they normally would have not been able to know about. You can count on it that there will be some players looking for revenge. If I was Hines Ward, I would be furious that another player is telling the sports mass that he performs cheap shots and seeks to injure players. How will “Player X’s” teammates respond? Will they support him or think that what he is doing is wrong? What about the coaches? Owners?
Not only is this damaging for the player, but what about the media source where this person is outletting their information? No doubt that ESPN The Magazine is prospering from the anonymous superstar in the NFL, but if the identity is found, how will the public respond to ESPN? Is this the new marketing scheme? Will we, as readers, want more of this? Do some think that what ESPN is doing isn’t right and only a professional player should know what the game is like? Many questions still remain, but the unknown identity of this player makes the situation more gray.
If you were to ask me, if the player’s identity is revealed some players in the league ARE going to resent him, while others will support him and believe that everyone should know the true meaning behind the game. The magazine will become even more popular as more articles are being written. Will this become the new trend? Will ESPN attempt to hire other “insiders” or “spies” in different professional sports such as the MLB or NHL to generate popularity in their media’s industry? This seems to be a new trend in the media, but the future is still unknown. It will be interesting to see if ESPN is able to keep the writer’s identity hidden for a long period of time, without hearing some fight from the league and its players. As a huge NFL fan, I am looking forward to more articles by “Player X”, since information and insight like this is impossible to understand without some inside knowledge.
But the question still remains: Is being a hidden identity in the sports world the new outlet? And foremost, who is “Player X” and how will his future play out?
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