Bruce Feldman: Writer Exposes ESPN's Epic Credibility Problem

Bruce Feldman, the college football writer who had worked at ESPN since 1995, has had a whirlwind year after he wrote a book with former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach. But things are looking up for the writer after taking a job with CBSSports.com, while the four-letter network is dealing with a major credibility problem.

To understand this whole thing, we have to go back to 2009. Feldman signed on to help Leach write a biography about himself. The network signed off on it, and the two men worked together on this new book.

Later that same year, Adam James, son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James, accused Leach of inappropriate treatment that included locking him in a dark garage for two hours.

With all this turmoil going with Leach and the James family, Feldman had to receive direct permission from his bosses at ESPN in order to keep working with Leach on the book, which he did.

But the network executives that gave him permission had a change of heart—interestingly enough, that change came about when Leach said that he was going to sue the network, which Feldman told them about immediately—and earlier this year decided that the best course of action would be to suspend Feldman for his participation in the biography.

Fans, colleagues and friends of Bruce Feldman were outraged because he is one of the most respected writers that ESPN has, and one of its longest tenured, but the network stood by its decision.

Meanwhile, Craig James hired a publicity firm to represent him and do all of his dirty work as it related to the lawsuit. He got them to spin the suit in a way that made him look credible and made Leach look like a monster. And, if that isn't bad enough, he got to keep his job with ESPN.

Fast forward to today and Feldman has announced that he has left ESPN and found a new home at CBS Sports.

Now that he is free, Feldman is having his say against the network that he called home for 17 years. In an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, he said that the network has lost its way and is more with being a business than having any kind of journalistic integrity.

"...You see, whether it's with the Longhorn Network or any of these other relationships, look it's complicated," Feldman said. "It's always been complicated, but it's gotten significantly more so in the last few years. I mean, it is a huge company, and no matter what came of this, it's all about ratings and it's all about TV contracts."

ESPN needs to decide exactly what kind of company it wants to be. If it wants to be an entertainment and sports programming network—which is what the four letters stand for—by all means, push forward and don't look back. But if the company wants to present sports news and do it honorably and with some semblance of integrity, they need to not stop treating quality journalists—like Bruce Feldman and Dan Patrick, who also left the network due to problems with management—like dirt when they do everything that they are asked to do.

Feldman is not the problem here. He did everything right, and the empty suits at ESPN know that. The problem is with the people in charge. These people have completely lost sight of what used to make ESPN great.

Bruce Feldman does not want to be a story; no journalist wants to be a part of a story because it means that something has gone wrong. Feldman is a journalist, and a damn good one, who believed in this network and wanted to be a part of it forever. But they turned their back on him, and now he is being forced to answer questions that he should not have to and he is part of the story.

If you are a sports fan, ESPN is probably like gospel to you. It is easily the most powerful cable network in the world today. While the rest of the world has been battling a recession for the last three years, ESPN has been raking in enough cash to pay off our national debt.

But ESPN is no longer about sports reporting and sports journalism. It has become all about the money, and anyone that works for ESPN who is not on board with this philosophy gets shown the door.

Congratulations, ESPN. You have sold your soul and credibility in favor of making a few extra bucks by getting in bed with the people that you are supposed to be reporting on. And while your former employees continue to put out quality work elsewhere, you can rest easy knowing that, even though your integrity has been flushed down the toilet, you have a little bit more money in your pocket.