On Monday, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter sat down with former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy for a one-on-one interview that touched on a 2014 incident where Hardy was accused of abusing his then-girlfriend, Nicole Holder.
Hardy is currently a free agent, meaning he’s not a part of any NFL roster. For him, this interview was a transparent attempt to sell a redemption narrative, and show that he was a man who can be trusted.
The problem? Hardy didn’t take any ownership over his actions. He just continued to assert his innocence.
“I’ve never put my hand on ANY women,” Hardy told Schefter. “In my whole entire life, No Sir. That’s just not how we’re raised. As you can tell, like I said again, it’s the Bible belt. It’s just something that’s, I wouldn’t even say frowned upon, just something that’s nonexistent in most southern homes.” (A flat-out lie.)
Hardy has never showed remorse for his actions — when he returned to the NFL last season after being suspended for four games because of the domestic violence against Holder, he told reporters that he was ready to come out “guns blazin’.” According to the police report of the incident, Hardy was accused of throwing Holder onto a bed covered with guns, including “four semiautomatic rifles.”
As Steve Smith, Hardy’s former teammate on the Carolina Panthers, pointed out on Twitter, Hardy’s excuses, denials, and justifications are all very standard for abusers.
Originally posted by Steve Smith Sr. on Sqor Sports.So I guess she Tripped on the carpet or something… my mom is a Survivor #DV and I am advocate against #DV. ?sqor.comThe evidence against Hardy is damning — he was initially found guilty of domestic violence by a judge, but that verdict was vacated due to North Carolina law when he appealed and requested a jury trial. By the time the jury trial came around, Holder was no longer cooperating — there are rumors of a settlement — and the charges were dropped. The NFL still suspended Hardy, initially for 10 games, then four after an appeal. Last fall, Diana Moskovitz at Deadspin presented a complete investigation of the incident, including horrific photos of Holder’s bruises.
But, in this particular case, what’s even worse than Hardy’s comments is the way ESPN and Schefter handled them.
Schefter — a reporter who once asked if the NFL was “lenient enough” on Ray Rice — did the media rounds after the interview, and fully endorsed the so-called redemption of Greg Hardy on the Dan Patrick Show:
I went in with the idea that this guy is a monster. I came out of there with a very different feeling. I came out of there feeling this is a guy who has managed to say the wrong things at the wrong time. I found him to be a changed kind of guy. A guy that realized he did makes some mistakes, could have handled things differently… I’ll say this, he wasn’t wavering. He was adamant.
It’s damaging enough for ESPN to give Hardy the air time to sell himself, in a world where survivors are frequently doubted and abusers get off without punishment.
But if they’re going to provide him with that platform, at least let a journalist who is familiar with domestic violence and comfortable asking tough questions conduct the interview. Schefter is an insider, not an investigative reporter. He’s known for forming close relationships with people in the NFL so that he can get access to information. That’s a very valuable job in today’s media market, and one that he does very well, but it’s not a job that makes him well-suited for an interview like this. Even some of Schefter’s ESPN colleagues, including Michelle Beadle, were perplexed by his handling of the subject.
For the love of f&$@. Dude doesn't admit to wrongdoing. Dude has changed? I give the hell up.
— Michelle Beadle (@MichelleDBeadle) April 5, 2016
As others have noted, it’s likely that Schefter got the interview because of his relationship with Hardy’s powerhouse agent Drew Rosenhaus. But regardless of how the interview came about, ESPN should not have let it happen unless it was going to be handled with care and expertise. There are plenty of journalists at ESPN who are adept at covering the intersection of sports and domestic violence — Kate Fagan, Sarah Spain, Jemele Hill, Bob Ley, Jane McManus, just to name a few. But in Schefter’s hands, this turned into a puff piece about an alleged domestic abuser.
Schefter says that Hardy is a “changed man,” despite the fact that Hardy takes zero responsibility for his actions. He’s feeding into a myth that abusers are monsters who are cruel at every turn, instead of the charming and manipulating men they so often are. And now Schefter is sharing his opinion and telling people what to think about the interview, instead of letting Hardy’s words speak for themselves. He is pushing the agenda that Team Hardy wants him to push, without question, and ESPN is letting him.
The Greg Hardy Case Shows How Little The NFL Has Learned About Domestic ViolenceSports by CREDIT: Brandon Wade, AP If we’ve learned anything over the past week, as more damaging reports on the…thinkprogress.org