Detroit Lions veteran DJ Reader respects the kindness reporter Lynn Jones showed to Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen.
The sports media world and journalists have been waging a massive debate since Jones shared her support publicly to a losing football coach.
The veteran journalist shared with the first-year NFL coach, in what has now become a viral media session, “I just want to tell you, congratulations on your success, young man. You hold your head up, alright? You guys have had a most magnificent season. You did a great job out there today. You just hold your head up, okay? Ladies and gentlemen, Duval, you the one. Keep it going, we got another season, okay? Take care, and much continued success to you and the entire team.”
Athletes, fans and journalists from many different parts of the media landscape have weighed in.
Lions free agent defensive lineman DJ Reader shared with his 65,000 followers on X what he felt about the ongoing debate, regarding how reporters should act in media press conferences.
A commenter posted, “Absolutely zero wrong with this. I don’t wanna hear about rules, written or unwritten. To try and police kindness is absurd. If you find yourself saying “but she..”, step back and think about how crazy that sounds.”
Reader reacted on social media, sharing, “Thank you bro. These people don’t realize that some reporters ask the same 3 questions in different words just to hear the answer rephrased in a different way. It’s a dance most get tired of seeing! This is a great act of kindness before he has to get back to the merry go round.”
Since the presser, Jones has went on to publicly defend her actions in several interviews.
“I don’t take no offense to it. Listen, I’ve been in this business more than 25 years. I’ve interviewed from Barack Obama to Terry Bradshaw to what’s my guy’s name? Tiger Woods. So, (critics) can say what he wants about ‘fake news.’ I am a member of the Black Press, NNPA (The National Newspaper Association) that’s been around more than 100 years,” Jones explained in a television interview. “I’m the associate editor of the Jacksonville Free Press, one of the more than 230 African American Newspapers still printing in this country today. You can call me ‘fake’ all you want to, honey. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”