ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine writer Bruce Feldman has reportedly been suspended for his role in a new book by former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.
According to the website Sports By Brooks, ESPN executives informed Feldman Thursday that he “was being suspended indefinitely for his participation in the Leach book” (sportsbybrooks.com, 7/14), which he co-wrote (thepostgame.com, 7/14).
While suspended, Feldman will be barred from writing for ESPN, appearing on any ESPN platform, and even posting comments on his Twitter account.
Leach was fired from Texas Tech in December 2009 after he was accused of mistreating player Adam James, son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James. He later filed multiple lawsuits, including a libel suit against ESPN.
Feldman had already “agreed in principle” to help Leach with his book before the controversy, but only if he received approval from ESPN. According to the report, ESPN did give Feldman approval.
The book is not particularly kind to ESPN. Leach alleges that the network’s coverage of the Adam James controversy was influenced by the elder James and the PR company he hired, Spaeth Communications.
In one excerpt, Leach says ESPN reporter Joe Schad “was just spewing this stuff that Craig James and Spaeth Communications were feeding him,” and that ESPN was “perpetuating falsehoods” (thepostgame.com, 7/12). Leach:
“There were statements out there from Adam James’s two position coaches, Dana Holgorsen and Lincoln Riley. There was a statement from the strength coach, Bennie Wylie. There were statements from three of James’s teammates — players that had been successful in the program and had witnessed Adam’s behavior, as well as mine. CBSSports.com and other media outlets chose to run those statements. ESPN, which also had them, chose not to. When one of my agents asked Joe Schad, the ESPN reporter, why they neglected to report those statements, he said he didn’t see how they were relevant to the story.”
Feldman has been with ESPN since 1995.
(Information from Sports by Brooks, thepostgame.com)
