Jim Trotter’s lawsuit against the NFL also accuses the league of preventing NFL Media from reporting critical information.
The Hall of Fame reporter has leveled multiple allegations against the league and various team owners in his suit. And, according to ProFootballTalk.com, he also claims the league shut down his attempts to report that they gave directives to resume the game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals after Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field.
Mike Florio notes that Trotter’s suit asserts that the league played a major role in the decision to resume the game, which counters reports stating that the on-field officials were the ones who tried getting the players to continue before it was eventually scrapped.
Paragraph 162 of the complaint states, “This directive was uncovered by several reporters and was widely reported in the media in the days that followed. However, the NFL staunchly denied these claims, as reflected in the various articles. Mr. Trotter, for his part, investigated further. He received confirmation from multiple sources refuting the NFL’s version and its denial.”
Trotter said he contacted NFL VP of Communications, Brian McCarthy for comment but McCarthy denied the allegations and refused to make the NFL employee who informed the teams of the decision to resume the game available for an interview.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
The former NFL.com reporter claims he was threatened by McCarthy, who said he would contact Trotter’s supervisor after he insisted on an interview but was “fine with” it as he was simply doing his job.
Trotter states in the suit that he later received a text from NFL Network’s executive editor Todd Sperry asking him to “stand down” and did not receive a reply when he asked Sperry for clarification on the role of a journalist when it comes to seeking the facts.
