We noted last week that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had uncovered a previously unreported allegation of domestic violence against Packers defensive lineman Letroy Guion. The Packers apparently weren’t happy with that report -- not because their player has a checkered past, but because a journalist chose to report about it.
The Journal Sentinel‘s Bob McGinn writes today that a Packers official tried to bully one of the reporters who worked on the Guion story, Michael Cohen.
According to McGinn, while Cohen covered Packers practice on Monday, Packers director of player development Rob Davis continually gestured at and stared at Cohen, then walked up to Cohen while Cohen was looking down taking notes and stuck his head about a foot from Cohen’s head. Davis is a former NFL player who was listed at 6-foot-3 and 284 pounds during his playing days, so it’s easy to see why someone could feel intimidated having Davis invade his personal space. Cohen attempted to remain professional and extended his hand, but Davis refused to shake it.
“No, we haven’t met,” Davis said to Cohen, according to McGinn. “And I don’t want to know you.”
Davis later claimed he wasn’t trying to intimidate Cohen, but as McGinn describes the situation, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that that’s exactly what Davis was doing. And that’s an unfortunate reaction from the Packers. They’re not claiming that anything the Journal Sentinel wrote about Guion’s off-field troubles was inaccurate; they’re just upset that the Journal Sentinel is conducting journalism rather than serving as an arm of the Packers’ PR department.
The Journal Sentinel should keep conducting journalism. And the Packers shouldn’t allow team employees to try to intimidate journalists for doing their jobs.