Post by JetBidi on Oct 27, 2016 22:54:04 GMT -5
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Chris Mortensen on Patriots fans: Even after I got cancer, I got death threats
ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen was diagnosed with Stage IV throat cancer and underwent hardcore treatment over the past year. He's in the recovery stage, and released a statement earlier this year saying his cancer has been "virtually reduced to zero detection."
Before his cancer diagnosis, though, Mortensen was an enemy on the list of many Patriots fans for a tweet he sent about Deflategate. His tweet, claiming 11 of the 12 balls used by the Patriots were deflated 2 pounds below the league-mandated PSI minimum, was seen among the public as setting off the drama.
That tweet was proven to be inaccurate, and Mortensen eventually deleted the tweet after allowing it to stand for several months. To Mort's credit, he had other tweets and television appearances that clarified his inaccuracy, but Patriots fans and others were still upset at the initial report.
In a feature story for The Ringer, Mortensen and people close to him explained the reporter's emotions during that time.
Via The Ringer's Bryan Curtis:
Mort remained Zen. “He was very calm about all this,” [ESPN colleague Adam] Schefter said. “If that were me, I would have been a basket case.”
Mort’s cool began to melt only when he started to get a number of death threats. “What bothered me is we’re in an era where if your wife goes onto social media, she basically reads that they want you to die,” Mort said. “Even after I got cancer, I got some death wishes.”
The Mortensens live in Arkansas. But when Mort was working in Bristol, they often stayed in a house they leased in Connecticut. As the Deflategate threats began to pile up, Mort told [wife] lovelyi he didn’t want her traveling to Connecticut anymore. “My job is to protect her,” he said. When Mort himself came to Bristol, he behaved like someone who was living under a public threat. He went straight from the ESPN studio to his home, avoiding restaurants and rarely appearing in public.
Knowing there are people making death threats over an inaccurate report is scary enough, but it's extremely troublesome he had to change his daily routine out of fear.
Chris Mortensen on Patriots fans: Even after I got cancer, I got death threats
ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen was diagnosed with Stage IV throat cancer and underwent hardcore treatment over the past year. He's in the recovery stage, and released a statement earlier this year saying his cancer has been "virtually reduced to zero detection."
Before his cancer diagnosis, though, Mortensen was an enemy on the list of many Patriots fans for a tweet he sent about Deflategate. His tweet, claiming 11 of the 12 balls used by the Patriots were deflated 2 pounds below the league-mandated PSI minimum, was seen among the public as setting off the drama.
That tweet was proven to be inaccurate, and Mortensen eventually deleted the tweet after allowing it to stand for several months. To Mort's credit, he had other tweets and television appearances that clarified his inaccuracy, but Patriots fans and others were still upset at the initial report.
In a feature story for The Ringer, Mortensen and people close to him explained the reporter's emotions during that time.
Via The Ringer's Bryan Curtis:
Mort remained Zen. “He was very calm about all this,” [ESPN colleague Adam] Schefter said. “If that were me, I would have been a basket case.”
Mort’s cool began to melt only when he started to get a number of death threats. “What bothered me is we’re in an era where if your wife goes onto social media, she basically reads that they want you to die,” Mort said. “Even after I got cancer, I got some death wishes.”
The Mortensens live in Arkansas. But when Mort was working in Bristol, they often stayed in a house they leased in Connecticut. As the Deflategate threats began to pile up, Mort told [wife] lovelyi he didn’t want her traveling to Connecticut anymore. “My job is to protect her,” he said. When Mort himself came to Bristol, he behaved like someone who was living under a public threat. He went straight from the ESPN studio to his home, avoiding restaurants and rarely appearing in public.
Knowing there are people making death threats over an inaccurate report is scary enough, but it's extremely troublesome he had to change his daily routine out of fear.
