ESPN Mag Making Stuff Up

If he did make it up then I don't get. I mean I've seen weirder things but the BYU kid is good and I'm sure there are plenty of quotes speaking of such that the reporter could have used.
 
per Ken @ ajc

On an entirely different topic, Uzzi found himself quoted in an ESPN the magazine article without ever having said the words attributed to him, he said. Tuesday, he came upon an article on former BYU defensive end and likely first-rounder Ezekiel Ansah in which a quote in praise of Ansah was attributed to him.
“Not saying he’s not a great player or anything,” Uzzi said. “I just didn’t say those things. I definitely didn’t say those things.”
The quote, in part, from the story linked here:
“Well, we lined up against BYU [on Oct. 27, 2012] and I saw this 6'5" guy standing in. I thought, Whoa! I looked over at [left guard] Shaquille Mason and was like, 'Good luck, dude.' Ansah killed us. He was all over the place all day. But the crazy thing was, the whole time he was smiling and very polite, like, 'This is fun; thank you for playing with us today.' You don't want to like a guy who is beating up on you, but you couldn't help it with him."
Having spoken with Uzzi a number of times. I can say this much – I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak like this. Uzzi took to Twitter, sending a tweet to writer Ryan McGee that there was apparently a misunderstanding and asking for a retraction. In response, McGee replied that they had spoken, during the week of the ACC Championship game. Tech sports information director Dean Buchan, who handles football media requests, said he couldn’t recall a request from McCall. I e-mailed McGee twice and didn’t get a response.
Uzzi was not upset, but more confused.
“It’s not something that’s the biggest thing going on in my life right now,” he said. “Just trying to get it cleared up for one thing and move on with it.”
 
If we were really nasty, we'd look at McGee's past articles for signs of fabrication.
 
gtzulu said:
If we were really nasty, we'd look at McGee's past articles for signs of fabrication.
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What's bad is I checked his tweets to see if he was even in Charlotte during the ACCCG.

Unfortunately, he was.
 
wow, I guess Ken S monitors Beej's posts...

BurnsExcellentSticker.jpg
 
gtzulu said:
Could it have been Nick McRae? I doubt the reporter would mistake a white guy for a black guy. The quote implies the interviewee was on the OL.

I see three likely possibilities:
1. Uzzi truly forgot.
2. Uzzi was embarrassed of something he said and is lying.
3. Reporter mistook someone else for Uzzi.
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4. Uzzi did speak with the guy and say something good about the player in question, then the writer just completely embellished that into what was actually printed. A sort of "nugget of truth".
 
:pop:

Seriously though, this is not a big deal. Just issue the öööö retraction and move on.
 
The least they could do is add a little blurb on some page in the next issue that says:

Editor's Note: Omoregie Uzzi disputes the accuracy of the quote attributed to him in issue X.
 
Reporters usually have audio recordings of the comments right? I wonder if this guy can offer any proof of the quote?
 
"Was gonna write a piece on you for our NFL draft stuff (might still)"

bribery attempt?
 
You think maybe he can get the GTAA behind him on this one?
 
GTBJW said:
I hope Uzzi takes him to court.
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I don't think that is a possibility. For one thing, to sue for slander requires demonstrating that the quote caused financial damage. And even if it did, it ultimately becomes one person's word against another, without any way to prove what actually happened. This is really just an issue of journalist ethics.
 
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