PFT
POSTED 8:17 p.m. EST, December 17, 2007
PAM OLIVER STANDS BY McNABB COMMENTS
FOX reporter Pam Oliver has responded to the comments of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb regarding his comments to her that were reported during Sunday's game between Philly and Dallas.
"I just feel like our relationship is definitely broken," Oliver told the News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware on Monday. "It's not easy to be called a big, fat liar. You wake up to that and it's unpleasant."
Here are her remarks from Sunday, which caused the whole conundrum: "Donovan really seems to believe that his days in Philadelphia are numbered. When I spoke with him before the game, I got the impression that Donovan is a little hurt by what he sees as an organization distancing itself from him and an organization that’s overly concerned about the negative fan reaction to him.
"But Donovan told me point blank: 'My knee is not an issue. The next place I go, I will win,' and also that he will keep a smile on his face for as long he's in an Eagles uniform."
Actually, Oliver said that McNabb's comments about the team were more pointed than she portrayed them to be, and that she toned them down in order to avoid getting him in hot water.
"My only professional regret is: Why on Earth did I bend over backwards to make it less impactful?," she said. "And then wake up to . . . to someone throwing you under bus like that.
"All I can tell you is I stand by it 100 percent," she said. "It's on-my-mother's-grave accurate. That's the bottom line."
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Article:
TV reporter stands by her account of McNabb's discontent
By GEOFF MOSHER, The News Journal
Posted Monday, December 17, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens embraced on the field Sunday following the Eagles' 10-6 upset of Dallas at Texas Stadium.
But while one fractured relationship may be under repair, McNabb appears to have ruptured another.
Fox sports sideline reporter Pam Oliver told The News Journal on Monday that she can't trust the Eagles quarterback anymore after he public denied the accuracy of her report during Fox's broadcast of the NFC showdown.
"I just feel like our relationship is definitely broken," Oliver said in a phone interview. "It's not easy to be called a big, fat liar. You wake up to that and it's unpleasant."
In her report, Oliver said her pre-game discussion with McNabb led her to believe McNabb felt his days with the Eagles were "numbered" and the organization was purposely distancing itself from the five-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
These were Oliver's words Sunday: “Donovan really seems to believe that his days in Philadelphia are numbered. When I spoke with him before the game, I got the impression that Donovan is a little hurt by what he sees as an organization distancing itself from him and an organization that’s overly concerned about the negative fan reaction to him.
”But Donovan told me point blank: ’My knee is not an issue. The next place I go, I will win,’ and also that he will keep a smile on his face for as long he’s in an Eagles uniform.“
After the game, McNabb told reporters that Oliver had drawn her own conclusions and that none of those statements were true.
"I didn't say that," McNabb responded. ""I don't feel that way. I've said I want to be here eight more, nine more years. If that's possible, we'll see."
Oliver is still struggling to come to grips with basically being called a liar. Not only did McNabb make those remarks, she said, but he sounded off without much provocation on her end.
She said McNabb vented frustrations to her and that, "I asked him one question and there was this barrage [of responses]."
Oliver said she was mentoring a young woman trying to learn more about the television industry when she and the woman walked close to McNabb while he threw warm-up passes on the sideline before the game.
She said he waited for the right time for McNabb to give her the signal that two could talk. The conversation lasted about five minutes, she estimated, and she recalled asking only four questions.
To ensure she kept eye contact with McNabb while they spoke for about five minutes, Oliver said she didn't take notes until after the conversation had ended.
Former NFL wide receiver and current ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson once accused Oliver of fabricating a report that the receiver had yelled at then-assistant Sean Payton during a 2004 Dallas loss at Green Bay.
Oliver insisted that McNabb understood his comments were on the record and all part of the normal pre-game routine between reporters and NFL players. She called McNabb's remarks "all volunteered comments."
"Don has a degree in communications [from Syracuse University]," she said. "He knows how TV works. He knows how the media works. You can't trip him up. All interviews I've ever done with him, you can't get him to say something he didn't want to say."
Oliver also said she purposely withheld some of McNabb's more pointed remarks about the organization to keep him from getting in trouble.
"My only professional regret is: Why on Earth did I bend over backwards to make it less impactful?," she said. "And then wake up to … to someone throwing you under bus like that."
"All I can tell you is I stand by it 100 percent," she later added. "It's on-my-mother's-grave accurate. That's the bottom line."
What surprised Oliver the most is that she considered McNabb a trustworthy source and felt the two had developed a strong business relationship stemming from multiple interviews she conducted with the Eagles' ninth-year quarterback dating back to his rookie season.
Now, she feels back-stabbed to the point where she can't envision a scenario where the two could talk openly again.
"I can't imagine reaching out to him or him reaching out to me and it being an honest conversation," she said. "I felt like I had had an honest conversation and he called me a liar."
Contact Geoff Mosher at
gemosher@delawareonline.com.
For complete Eagles coverage, see The News Journal and
www.delawareonline.com
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/SPORTS/71217062/1002
