They did NOT want the story to leak. They considered a leak of that story to be an unacceptable risk. Of what, we don’t know.
Also, maybe they just don’t care because at this time next year, JT will be covering high school football.
Yet, the story had already leaked. From the Bradford camp, we know that they were hearing about trade talk during the combine. We do know that Kelly talked to Bradford’s OU coaches…chances are very likley that got back to him. In fact one reason Bradford refused a paycut, according to his side, is because they thought it was just a way to make him more tradeable. Regardless of that detail, if the agent is hearing that kind of thing, chances are, he conveys it to Thomas.
So the trade wasn’t a secret. In fact–there was no reason to keep it secret.
Nevertheless, it goes like this. Thomas hears things from Bradford’s agent, and possibly other sources. So he directly asks Fisher one on one.
Fisher has any number of options there short of direct revelation. He could say, please keep this to yourself for the time being, but, we’re keeping our options open.
But instead, on the strength of Fisher’s denial, Thomas goes public hours before the trade and says “I was told directly by the best source that there’s nothing to this.” Then, wham, the trade happens, and the result of going public is, some people are laughing at JT and calling him a dupe and saying he’s not credible.
Meanwhile, JT says, no coach ever lied to me under those conditions before. And we have seen JT say yeah I talked to them, but I have to keep it to myself. If no coach ever lied to him, given his reaction to this, that includes Fisher–otherwise, JT would have said long before this “no one ever lied to me before except Fisher.” Yet what are the odds JT never asked a question like this before?
That means there’s a protocol they have that has been in place for a long time. JT asks, they don’t lie, though we also know from the past that JT DOES sometimes say in effect “I am not at liberty to discuss it.”
Fisher must know that JT had heard things about the trade. JT was basically saying, I will put this story to rest on the basis of your word. Fisher would also know that coming out with an official denial would make JT look bad after the trade.
I usually don’t take the PD’s side against the team. For example, I thought the entire “equipment manager scandal” thing was absurd.
But I cannot help but think Fisher comes across as a prick on this one.
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The story leaked, and they contained it. They contained it by denying it. The front office met together – clearly – and decided as a team to deny the rumors. Fisher stuck with the game plan of denial. That’s all we know.
We don’t know that “there was no reason to keep it a secret.” There obviously WAS a reason. We don’t know what it is, and we might not like it if we heard it, but the front office consciously decided to keep a lid on it as much as possible. Maybe Philadelphia wanted to keep it quiet, too. The last thing GMs want is the media and fans all going berserk with their trade scenarios. You’ve heard fans. Rams fans would be calling the radio saying they want Foles and the next two 1st round picks from Philly, and Philly fans would be saying the same thing, and both fan bases would be even more pissed off at the actual trade. Who needs the media shitstorm that would come with trading a QB? I’d want to keep talk to a minimum beforehand if it was me, that’s for sure.
That’s just a top-of-my-head rationale for lying about it. There could be other reasons.
I do think it was a bad move on Fisher’s part because it isn’t a matter of insignificance to alienate a reporter. That’s not a good idea.
