KCSP morning talk show host Danny Parkins had a unique opportunity to interview Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Eric Berry and talked about it on his show today.
And, after listening to the background of the interview (Link to Podcast), the whole thing seemed strange.
First, Berry, who rarely gives interviews, told Parkins he didn’t want any cameras in the interview. Of course, Parkins, who joined KCSP in April 2011 to replace Shan Shariff, is a radio interviewer. He has no control if TV media members come over to try and get quotes during his interview.
Secondly, according to Parkins, Berry told him he only wanted to talk “about positive stuff.” When Parkins pressed him he repeated “I’m only talking about positive stuff.”
After the interview Parkins asked Berry if his questions were okay and Berry told him he had tried to get him going but they were “all good.”
For Berry to ask a member of the media to only ask about positive stuff on a team that was just forced to bring in a new defensive coach, just canned a key defensive back and sits 1-7 (with another loss upcoming versus Pittsburgh) for the season is a strange request. Berry’s play itself has been erratic this year and some question if he has recovered from a season-ending injury last season.
When you and your team are playing this poorly it is a silly request to ask the media to give you a pass.
You should expect criticism because you deserve criticism.
PERFECTLY REASONABLE REQUEST
nothing bizarre about it. berry and the rest of the team expect and rightfully receive plenty of criticism, but he offered to be on the show voluntarily, and it’s perfectly reasonable for him to ask that the criticism and negativity be saved for every other show when he’s not a guest. why would any player choose to go on a radio show to be grilled about how bad their team is doing? not to mention the PR mess that could result from him trying to answer questions about the roster or coaching staff. we all know how bad the chiefs have been across the board and it has been discussed to death, so he probably just wanted a chance to have a more constructive conversation for a change.
I would have died and gone to heaven if I could instruct journalists not to ask tough questions of my clients. The key word is “journalists.”
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
i hadn’t listened to the interview yet and just did.. i thought he actually went on the show. the fact that it was in the locker room makes some of my previous comments not applicable, but either way, berry didn’t have to agree to do the one-on-one interview. he could’ve just said no to it altogether, or he could’ve said nothing ahead of time and just said “no comment” to a lot of questions. in that context i see nothing bizarre about him saying he doesn’t want to dwell on negativity or things he has no control over like the routt situation or the coaching change.. he’s focused on improving his own play and helping the team play better defense. just seems like a lot of fuss about nothing, but i guess that’s what most “journalists” get paid to do anyway.