Is ESPN Burying an O'Brien Controversy?

A week after Ryan Glasper accused Tom O'Brien of rushing him back from injury and breaking a promise of a medical redshirt on Sirius radio and in some local papers, ESPN finally got around to covering the story. While Page 2 shed some light on the player's gripe, I question why the worldwide leader in sports couldn't get one quote from Tom O'Brien. When the leader in sports calls most coaches have to answer and if they don't ESPN usually uses their powerful platform to shame the coach into saying something. The cynic in me wonders if O'Brien felt comfortable ignoring the story knowing it would blow over because his oldest daughter is an ESPN employee. To make the potential conflict of interest even more unflattering, according to this 2006 press release the younger O'Brien was at one point an associate producer on ESPN's college football coverage! Seems like she would know how hot this story might get in Bristol.

Now you can question how much attention this story deserves. While Glasper is a good kid, even before the injury he was not a lock to play in the NFL. Yet usually when a player speaks up about anything controversial ESPN gladly plugs the story into their sport news cycle and goes. The ESPN networks need content and stories like this are perfect fodder for their series of talking head shows and SportsCenter. Yet no mention of this anywhere outside of Alan Grant's article (and it should be noted that Grant is not a fulltime ESPN employee). Did ESPN bury this story because of the O'Briens?

Although places like the Fanhouse are making waves, ESPN still has the most influence in the national sports coverage and dialogue. Maybe the new ombudsman should clarify how conflicts of interest with family members are resolved in Bristol.