Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman doesn’t hold back in explaining his beliefs that traditional sports media outlets fail to accurately cover pro sports.
The outspoken football player said Tuesday during Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo., that traditional media covers sports in a sensationalist manner in order to get people to click on articles. He expressed his displeasure over the way journalists only chose to highlight the most tantalizing portions of hour-long interviews.
“They are almost like TMZ,” Sherman said.
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Now, Sherman is a contributor to The Player’s Tribune, a website that features content created by professional athletes in conjunction with the website’s editors. The site lets sports stars who may not be professional writers or videographers create their own content and interact with fans without having to deal with journalists or traditional news media, Sherman explained.
He said the website lets people see athletes as “intelligent individuals who have a lot more to offer than our athletic prowess.”
Jaymee Messler, the president of The Player’s Tribune, said that the startups gives athletes the “tools of HBO and GQ” and lets “them be the executive producer of every story they want to share.”
This alternative to traditional media excites Sherman, who said that these old-school sports news outlets “are losing their place” and “are becoming extinct.” These outlets “feel threatened by more genuine, organic content that is centered on the players,” he continued.
