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Phillip Daniels, the Washington Redskins' defensive end and father of Vernon Hills wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, has expressed his displeasure over the story I wrote about his son on Tuesday. He chose to go public, which is his right, but he didn't provide a deliverable e-mail address so I could respond to his criticism.
I would suggest that Phillip should re-read the article for what it actually says, not for how he chooses to interpret it or read between the lines. Let's set the record straight:
1. I didn't fabricate the story and I didn't write a bunch of lies, as he claims.
2. I didn't write that DaVaris said he was unable to qualify academically.
3. I didn't write that DaVaris said he was going to Miami.
4. If the conversation was taped, Phillip knows I made two calls to DaVaris, the first that confirmed his earlier favoritism toward Notre Dame and the second to obtain his feelings about Miami. The quotes are accurate.
5. Phillip claims his son has 16 scholarship offers, not 13 as I mentioned in the article. DaVaris said he had 13 offers. Yahoo, Scout and Rivals also list 13. The figures are irrelevant. Only two matter.
6. Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken alerted the Chicago media that DaVaris would conduct a press conference at noon on Tuesday at the high school to announce his decision, either Notre Dame or Miami. We didn't make that up.
7. Now Phillip says that DaVaris was going to announce on Tuesday but he canceled because "he needs more time to decide and take his visits." So who's lying? If his son wasn't going to Miami, why didn't he go forward, announce the school and stuff it down the Sun-Times' throat? Or why was he ready to announce on Monday, then not ready on Tuesday? So who's fabricating the story? DaVaris said he wanted to announce on Tuesday, as a Father's Day present, that it was his father's idea. That's on the tape, too, isn't it, Phillip?
8. DaVaris said he would choose Notre Dame or Miami. If possible, the Sun-Times wanted to break the story. This is a very competitive media town, Notre Dame is a major player in the sports market, so we didn't want to wait for everybody to learn the news at a press conference if we could get it beforehand. The time has passed when the Tribune knew everything that was going on in the Bears' camp because the Bears' owner/coach and the Tribune's editor were pals.
9. I took journalistic license regarding his grades. It is a sensitive subject. The media and college recruiters have long been aware that DaVaris' grades were borderline. Last November, his coach generously listed his grade-point average at 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. His ACT score has never been revealed. DaVaris said on Monday that he is "completely fine." That isn't true. If it was, why didn't he commit to Notre Dame, his first choice? The fact is that Miami is the only major school on his list that can get him into school, with the possible exception of Oklahoma and perhaps Cincinnati.
10. But Phillip brings up another interesting subject that we have dealt with in other cases involving high school athletes and their academics. If DaVaris was a borderline student in November, as his coach indicated, how did he become "completely fine" by June? I don't buy it and apparently neither did any college except Miami.
11. In the latest chapter to this drama, coach Tony Monken has alerted the media that the family has decided to wait to make a decision until after the season and after DaVaris is able to make more visits.
I think that is a great idea, the best for the kid. He can work on his grades and improve his transcript and he likely will receive more offers and will be able to take at least five official campus visits, including Miami, when he hasn't seen. This all makes a lot of sense. What didn't make sense was declaring he would announce his decision at a press conference on Tuesday. If his father pushed him into that, he was dead wrong.
DaVaris' father may not agree. But those are the facts of the matter.
It is 24 hours since I posted this blog and I can't -- well, I really can -- believe there are so many people who are totally ignorant of the recruiting process. They apparently aren't aware that thousands of kids are listed on hundreds of web sites on the Internet. Many kids even pay to have their videos shown and to have feature stories written about them.
These people really believe these 18-year-old kids are entitled to privacy, that their grades are privileged, that their decision are sacred, that their rap sheets shouldn't be revealed, etc. Yet these are the same kids whose parents complain bitterly if the media doesn't provide exposure for their kids, who blame the media if their kids don't receive college offers or aren't named to all-state teams. And these are the same kids and parents who lobby for TV coverage on EPSN so they can make their college announcements.
Who are they kidding?
Cell Phone Alerts
Journalistic license--a nice euphamism for
"deciding what I want to write." And while the original article does not say Davaris told you he could qualify academically, you wrote it in such a way that it certainly conveyed that message.
If Davaris didn't tell you about the grades, why even bother writing it? You opened the article with it, and brought it up a second time. You went out of your way to make light of his grades. If it was my kid, I'd be upset with you as well. At the time when this kid is making one of the biggest and best decisions of his life, you missed the boat.
So a 17 year old kid has changed his mind. You don't spend time around too many teenagers, do you?
TedStriker's comment hits the nail on the head. You had no source, but concluded he couldn't have been in good academic standing and that would drive his choice. The (undoubtedly intentional) attention-grabbing lead in of the article was your choosing to string together bits and pieces of unreliable information, but present them as fact. I take no issue with you wanting to break the story of the school choice. But don't state things that you have no way of verifying as fact; call speculation, speculation. "Wide receiver DaVaris Daniels of Vernon Hills has decided to enroll at the University of Miami and will officially announce his decision Tuesday morning. Daniels listed Notre Dame as his favorite throughout the recruiting process and in XXX CST interviews, but he will choose Miami tomorrow. Academic qualification questions have surrounded Daniels and it's unclear whether he could gain admittance into Notre Dame ..."
I'm going to say this one time and one last time only. Stop comming on here with your lies. When Monken told you that there was a lot of school left. He even took some classes over from his freshmen year. You're whole story is fabricated and I have learned that this is not the first time that you have done this. I will call your editor tomorrow and the owner of the Sun-times and let them deal with you. You know nothing about journalism and you should fire yourself. Stop taking avantage of young men future and please do yourself a favor and stop using my name or my son's name period. This is your final warning.
You need to be sued by this family. You should be ashame of yourself. You did say he didn't qualify for Notre Dame so he have committed to Miami his second choice. You are a big lier and you made this what it is. You are playing with a child emotions here and you need to be stopped. How would you feel if this was your child? and why are you trying to steal this kids joy?
I actually agree with the family on this issue. There's no way you should write something such as "Unable to qualify academically for admission to his first choice, Notre Dame" or "And when it became apparent that Notre Dame couldn't get him into school, he opted for Miami. " unless you know for a FACT that he couldn't qualify.
He's a 17 year old kid whose currently in the process of making the most important decision in his life. You don't have access to his transcripts and he told you that he was qualified-yet you wrote the above 2 quotes as if they were facts when they were nothing more than a hunch.
Mr Bell u were once one of my favorite prep writers of all time, this is a kinda disappointing article in which it seems u are trying to stick it to this kid b/c of a dispute u may have had with his dad... The only point it seems u were trying to make is, this kid has borderline grades? I hope the two of u can resolve this b/c I don't want this to be my lasting memory of your great yrs of service!
Taylor, this is sad. I understand the stress that comes with working within a dying enterprise, but you have to conduct yourself with more comportment and professionalism than this.
Take a step back and realize what you did and what you've done. Your adversary here is a high school kid. You admitted you played fast and loose with the facts regarding a high school kid's grades. At that point, the only proper course is to apologize.
Instead, you violated the first rule of holes. Quit digging.
You just admitted that the central point of your article was fabricated through your "journalistic license".
This "response" is immature and childish.
The family should go after you through every legal channel they can.
"Journalistic license." What a crock. And you people wonder why newspaper sales are in decline? You can't be trusted anymore. That is why.
Taylor,
I must admit, I've been keeping a watch out, for how you would handle your next controversial blog post.
And, I know the Sammy vs. Curtis Sr. issue for you "Public League in crisis" blog post is unrelated to this issue. But it did remind me of a religious saying from a muslim friend:
I talked to him about this current post, and the blog post involving Sammy and Curtis, and then my friend said:
"Treat my brother as I treat myself".
I say this, because I look at the term of 'karma' being very relevant as to the public's 'reaction' to your latest work.
Pleez
ALl I can say is WOW. I think the problem is what people are saying repeatedly " You shouldnt/cant play with a childs emotion or future in order to gain journalstic scoops"
Its fairly sad. It appears that even retired SUn Times writes walk that fine line betwene TMZ and actualy journalism. Acutally journalism is a lost art. Not even found on these pages.
I do recall picking up the SUn Times and reading that Devaris "couldnt qualify to enter ND" I dont remember who reported that article and that is probably what you are alluding to Taylor? That you did not write that piece?
EIther way Davaris will have a great Senior Season go on to college and Im sure the NFL
Mr Philip Daniels I must commend you for taking the time to defend your son. Even if you are a 13 year NFL veteran. That speaks volumes for who you are as a person.
I cleary understand that this is a very sensitive subject and I had to deliberate as to whether or not I was going to comment on this one. After reading both articles and the subsequent comments, I have some questions on the matter that I would love to have answered.
Again, this is a sensitive matter and clearly some commenters have taken Mr. Bell's observations on the issue personally. However, I can't help but wonder if there is something else in play that is fueling the strong opposition to the articles.
It has been reported that Daniel's coach, Tony Monken, listed the kid's GPA as 2.0. If that's true, than what Mr. Bell says is correct, he wouldn't qualify to get into Notre Dame with grades like that. Also, his father said 'He even took some classes over from his freshmen year.' This suggests to me that there are some issues with his grades. Fortunately they are being addressed but there are issues nonetheless.
Having said that, I would like to know, at this point, is the kid a qualifier? How far along is he toward satisfying the NCAA Clearinghouse? This information would go a long in determining whether Mr. Bell was negligent in his reporting. In all fairness, I'll withhold my judgement until I can get some real information from the other side of the discussion.
Finally, is this a matter of what is being reported untrue or something that we are not comfortable seeing in print? Someone help me on this one.
I agree with Darnell on this one.
Mr. Daniels, help us out by giving us the facts.
Is your son's GPA a 2.0?
Why is he making up freshman classes? Did he fail? Did he leave the school before the year ended (Incomplete)?
Answering questions like these would help shed light on Mr. Bell's journalism in this case.
On a side note, people, stop with the lawsuit crap please!
Everytime we don't like something nowadays... IM SUING!
If you don't like his articles, DON'T READ THEM!
This is AMERICA - land of the FREE!
Grow up people!
I feel misled. The statements about Daniels ability were presented as fact rather than opinion. I get that the market here is Chicago is competitive, but I look for credible factual information I can rely upon. At least now I know to look for that elsewhere, but if I'm looking for cutting edge speculation this is clearly the place to hear it first. Seems to me a journalist that's willing to roll the dice with his own credibility just to scoop others shouldn't be taken seriously.
I will definitely give my opinion on this matter. Mr. Bell has done nothing wrong. The man has been doing this for over 40 years. The media is the media. The Daniels family sought out the media and chose to have these revelations. Mr. Daniels needs a reality check. Why does your son have a 2.0 GPA with all your resources and money? HMMM! Do your job as a parent. It's one thing to be a provider but also be a DAD-Distributor, Administrator, and a Disciplinarian. My son is one of the most highly recruited players in the state of Misissippi for football in the class of 2012. He doesn't play football, PERIOD unless he has A and B's. Anything less is unacceptable, PERIOD!!! He doesn't play football. How about some tough love Mr. Daniels but I won't tell you how to raise your son.
These parents and coaches these days are nothing but attention WHORES. They all want the media and to be quoted in papers, etc. Just be quiet and shut the hell up. Let the kids play the games and the recruiting will take care of itself. Mr. Daniels should take control of the recruiting process and tell the coach to keep his mouth shut. This is my son, not yours. We all thought the CPL coaches were bad. You have coaches all over just as bad.
The coaches that are recruiting my son ONLY talk to me regarding my son. NO coaches or any other adult affiliated with my son's high school. Having press conferences to commit or name your school has always been a JOKE. Once again all these primma donnas in society. I want you same parents and kids to have another press conference 4-5 years later to tell everybody how your son was a BUST in college.
My son doesn't give interviews or talks to the media PERIOD. He doesn't have to worry about being misquoted or saying something a kid shouldn't be saying. He will commit to a SEC school or whatever school he chooses without all that nonsense and fanfare. He earned his scholarship offers without the media input. He will choose a college without the media input as well. Mr. Bell, kudos to you for exposing another recruit, recruit family, coaches, etc. You have done your job in journalism. Let us all hope Mr. Daniels does his job as a parent.
Taylor Bell:
You say, and I quote: "I didn't write that DaVaris said he was unable to qualify academically. I didn't write that DaVaris said he was going to Miami."
Yes, you did not write that he SAID these things, but if he didn't say them, why write them? Your lead for the previous piece stated he could not qualify academically for ND and chose Miami. Why would you make this your lead if the subject of your writing did not confirm them himself?
I am a journalism major, and I watched a video about Stephen Glass last semester. You, my friend, are writing stories just like him. With unconfirmed truths and lies.
mr. bell: suggest you ck into academic requirements at the univ of miami. same level as notre dame. roughly ten percent acceptance, just as difficult to gain acceptance at either school. check on how the univ has done w/athletes gpa requirements for ncaa. acc does very well.
chances are the kid might have to go to prep school to get into any of the institutions he's considering.
HAVE A GREAT SENIOR SEASON!
DD is a nice kid but he will struggle in any college. He is seemingly delicate and quite injury prone. He really was not the most effective player on the team any of his prior years. His dad is OTT. I hope he goes to ND lol.
You want the media exposure for your son, you want the high ranking on the recruiting websites, you want the All-American invites and the wonderful stories written on your son just like in the pros, but you do not want anything negative to be reported, even if it is true.
Your son needs to improve his academics and you know it and his coach has admitted it in an interview. As an NFl veteran you should know the best way to keep the media from printing ANYTHING negative about you is to not give them anything at all. If you would have kept Devaris from the media, maybe this would not be an issue.
You cannot have the attention one day and cry fowl the next. YOU scheduled a media event to announce a school, then YOU called it off. HMMMMMMMMM, something fishy here.
What Davaris is going to do is EVERYONE's business now. Rivals was sold to Yahoo for 100 million and Scout to fox for 60 million for a reason. ESPN covers it for a reason as well. And who are the 3 mystery teams who have offered Davaris that we do not know about? 13 offers on his profiles.
To Devaris, good luck in class. Hope you are able to increase your options over the course of your senior year with a great football season and a great semester in the class room.