USA TODAY Sports
On Monday morning, the NFL.com posted an item by David Carr in which he suggested that the four teams on Russell Wilson’s list should have called the Seahawks “yesterday” about an exchange. Interestingly, one of these four teams – the Raiders – currently employs David Carr’s younger brother as a full-back.
Even more curious, David Carr’s article was quietly revised after the comment was located and published.
The original version said: “If I am one of these four teams, I will answer the phone yesterday. “The new version reads as follows:” If I am a team in need of QB, I will answer the phone yesterday. “
Surprisingly, the article does not contain any indication that it has been revised or edited. The original 11:25 am ET timestamp remains, and has no editor note or other indication that any changes have been made. Therefore, it creates the clear impression that the article never said: “If I am one of these four teams, I will answer the phone yesterday.”
Yes. And apparently, did David Carr actually receive a “WTF?” message from Derek, asking for the change to be made surreptitiously, so that no one would realize that David believes what anyone with a basic knowledge of football knows: Russell Wilson would be a major upgrade over Derek Carr.
In addition, the review does not make sense in its context. The previous paragraph explains that Wilson said, through his agent, that he would only accept an exchange for four teams (Raiders, Bears, Cowboys, Saints). So, any “needy QB team” other than these four would be wasting their time calling the Seahawks yesterday, today or tomorrow.
Still, David Carr clearly had to do some damage control, since it was obvious that he was suggesting that the Raiders throw their brother overboard for Wilson. And David Carr tried to do damage control in a way that controlled the perception that no damage had been done.