Chris Berman’s Daughter’s Job With Pats Will Compromise All the Objectivity He Doesn’t Have

Nowhere within Chris Berman’s ever-present and camera-mugging shtick is the expectation that he covers all the teams in the NFL on equal footing, even if ESPN would probably like for viewers to think that he does. Because he obviously doesn’t. He’s the institution who transcends all the rules for being the face of the network. And as such, the guy is allowed to be vocal about openly rooting for the Bills (I seem to have heard something about them circling some wagons) and the 49ers. He even had to return a Super Bowl ring given to him by Eddie DeBartolo and introduced Ralph Wilson at his Hall of Fame induction this summer. If Berman is given carte blanche by ESPN to do his sound effect laden routine and happens to give favorable lip service to certain franchises, oh well, he’s just a character to them at this point anyway.↵↵So the shocking revelation that his daughter has a “low-level” job with the Patriots shouldn’t mean a great deal, even coming on the heels of an interview Berman landed last week with Tom Brady. Yeah, it should have come out earlier for the sake of full disclosure, but let’s not pretend like it curries any more favorable coverage from Berman. ↵

↵↵And even in the chance it does, like that means anything. That’s why, with the NFL, ESPN has positioned Adam Schefter, Chris Mortensen, Rachel Nichols and Ed Werder as their serious reporter-type news people. If they wanted a hard-hitting interview, they’d dispatch one of them. Berman is the emcee of the wacky parade of personalities. Brady sitting down with him is just yet another confirmation of Berman’s clout with the network. Had Brady been in the news for anything other than being welcomed back to action with open arms, things would have been different. But Berman is just welcoming him back into the narrative, of which he would like to consider himself part. That would be the same whether there’s another Berman dwelling somewhere in the bottom ranks of the Pats or not.↵

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