WATCH: Dez Bryant sounds off on classless commentary from Adam Schefter, Gil Brandt following Dwayne Haskins' death
Dwayne Haskins passed away tragically on Saturday morning and while emotions are understandably running high for many of his former friends, coaches, teammates and members of the media who knew the former Ohio State star, another storyline has emerged in regard to the insensitive reporting around a 24-year-old man, who was taken from the world far too soon.
Former Dallas Cowboys’ star Dez Bryant took to social media with an emotional video expressing his outrage toward the media coverage around Haskins’ death, while calling out other current and former NFL players to respond like many others have in support of Dwayne Haskins.
Bryant is one of many current and former NFL and college athletes to express outrage toward both ESPN Insider Adam Schefter, who broke the tragic news that Dwayne Haskins had passed away Saturday morning and 90-year-old longtime NFL reporter Gil Brandt.
Schefter has since deleted the initial tweet, but here it is in a screenshot from former Ohio State QB Cardale Jones, retweeted by longtime NFL cornerback Joe Haden, who was recently teammates with Haskins on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While Schefter deleted his original tweet and updated it with a far more sensitive version, Brandt’s comments– which were broadcasted for millions to hear on NFL radio — are beyond insensitive considering the circumstances.
“He was a guy that was living to be dead.” “It was always something” with Haskins “Maybe it he stayed in school a year he wouldn’t do silly things [like] jogging on a highway.”
The audio can be found below.:
ESPN’s Mina Kimes immediately responded to Rovell’s tweet of the interview with, “how is this real?”
Several notable NFL media personalities agreed with Dez Bryant and took to social media to express their shock toward Brandt’s comments, but there hasn’t been a former apology from Schefter and most of the scrutiny toward the NFL ESPN Insider has come from former players.
Dwayne Haskins remembered as Ohio State icon
All Dwayne Haskins did was change the course of Ohio State history,” Adam Ward of On3.com’s Letterman Row wrote following the devastating news on Saturday.
He was a rocket-armed revolution. A gun-slinging, secondary-slicing, record-breaking superstar who in just one season as a starter set the stage for everything the quarterback position could become for the Buckeyes.
Quite simply: There is probably no Justin Fields and certainly no C.J. Stroud without Dwayne Haskins first. And while he didn’t do all that work alone during his sensational ascent from first-time starter to Heisman Trophy finalist, Haskins was obviously the face of the evolutionary work alongside a dynamic cast of wide receivers and elite offensive play-caller Ryan Day.
Even though it was only four years ago, that simple fact seems to have either largely faded or been overwhelmed by the pointless debates comparing him and Joe Burrow. Here’s another clear-cut truth: Haskins was picked for good reason after leading the remarkable comeback off the bench in The Game, and then his numbers in 2018 unequivocally validated that decision while Burrow was still a year away from his own next-level emergence.
None of that really matters now, and neither do any of the growing pains he endured in the NFL. Here’s hoping the unfathomably tragic events of Saturday morning when Haskins lost his life far too early after being struck by a car can help restore more appreciation for his almost otherworldly accomplishments with the Buckeyes.
Ward’s full piece, which includes a touching quote from current Ohio State quarterback who recently spoke about how he was still getting mentorship from Dwayne Haskins regularly, and how he will be remembered amongst the all-time great Buckeyes, can be read here.