The Washington Post sparked outrage on Tuesday at how its online article reported on the death of legendary NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, declaring that his teams “withered in the postseason”.
Schottenheimer, who was widely respected in the football community, is among the most winning coaches in NFL history. However, Jeff Bezos’s newspaper titled his obituary, “Marty Schottenheimer, an NFL coach whose teams withered in the postseason, dies at 77.”
The Washington Post sparked outrage on Tuesday by reporting the death of legendary NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer, stating in the headline that his teams “withered in the postseason”. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld / Getty Images)
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Schottenheimer’s widely criticized obituary is a far cry from the infamous headline of the 2019 Washington Post that described ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar”.
The Schottenheimer headline caused an immediate reaction between reporters and prominent NFL personalities, who found the headline insensitive due to Schottenheimer’s overall success.
“Show a little respect @washingtonpost. Obituary headlines are no place for cheap photos, “wrote CBS Sports reporter Will Brinson.
Podcast NFL player Ross Tucker wrote that the Post headline “REALLY pisses me off”.
“How about ‘Who turned FOUR separate franchises into winners?'” Added Tucker.
“This is just a brutal decision that is completely unfair to Schottenheimer. You should be absolutely able to mention it in the obituary, but putting it in the headline and reading it as if that is what defined your life and career is wrong,” Big Stephen Lead Douglas wrote.
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The Post ended up changing its headline to “Marty Schottenheimer, one of the NFL’s most winning coaches, dies at 77.”
“The opening headline should never have been read that way, and we changed it quickly,” a Post spokesman told Fox News.
However, the opening paragraph still mentioned his playoff losses on Tuesday afternoon.
“Marty Schottenheimer, one of the most winning coaches in the National Football League, whose teams were successful in the regular season but often fought in the playoffs and failed to make it to the Super Bowl, died on February 8 in a madhouse in Charlotte. He had 77 years, “wrote post-obituary writer Matt Schudel.
Many others turned to Twitter to condemn the Post’s initial headline:
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Schottenheimer posted a 205-139-1 career playoff and regular season record during his time as coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington and Los Angeles Chargers (then based in San Diego).
Schottenheimer compiled a 44-27 record during his time in Cleveland, while suffering some devastating playoff losses in the 1980s against the Denver Broncos and former defender John Elway.
He then coached the Chiefs for 10 seasons, winning 10 or more games six times, but never the conference title.
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Schottenheimer spent a single season as a coach at Washington (8-8), before taking over as coach of Chargers, where he achieved a 47-33 record. His 2006 team, led by running back LaDainian Tomlinson, had 14-2 in his senior year in San Diego.
He has the eighth highest number of coaching victories in NFL history.
Schottenheimer’s son Brian has served as Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before being fired by the team earlier this year. He was recently hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as a passing game coordinator.
Schottenheimer was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014.
Stephen Sorace of Fox News contributed to this report.