"With Leather" Gets On "ProFootballtalk.com" - Mike Florio Whines Over A Taste Of His Own Medicine

I had to laugh when I saw this on today's Profootballtalk.com website:

There's a blog thing out there called WithLeather.com, which has said mean things about us in the past.

Hey, we can take it. We've been called a lot of things, many of which are accurate. But we never, ever, ever, ever (did we say "ever"?) make stuff up.

Another thing we never, ever, ever, ever (did we say "ever"?) do is go with a tip that a guy has been arrested or committed any other type of misconduct that could damage his reputation, unless we have solid sources who have verified the information.

Over the years, it has caused us to miss out on "breaking" many a story that eventually became public, such as the rumors that Joe Horn fathered a baby with Willie Roaf's wife. But, on the bright side, we've never been taken to People's Court (or any other court of law).

It's one of the benefits of that law degree thing that the Poobah picked up 16 or so years ago. We know where the line of liability is, and we stay the hell away from it.

On Monday, WithLeather.com is doing the lambada on that line by going with unverified tips that Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman beat the crap out of some dude over the weekend, returned with a gun-wielding posse, and later tried to buy the victim's silence.

Maybe the information is completely accurate and, if so, kudos to the site for getting the truth out there. But it's one thing to be wrong about a trade rumor; it's quite another to be wrong about something that inflicts even more damage to a guy's image than he already has inflicted himself.

In this case, if the tip turns out to be embellished at best or fraudulent at worst, the folks at Fat Penguin Media will need to be ready to post a retraction before the process server shows up at the headquarters in Mesa, Arizona.

And if the tip is on the money, it might be time for Odell Thurman to throw out his cleats, because he'll never, ever, ever, ever (did we say "ever"?) need them again.

There's some truth to what Florio writes here. I've not know for Profootballtalk.com to make things up, but I have seen them use racially insensitive photos on too many occasions. I've called them on it, and pointed out the harm that that action causes.

So it's for that reason I'm not unhappy that Profootballtalk.com is getting negative press.