A N.Y. DAILY NEWS editorial stated the paper "will simply" refer to the Redskins as "Washington" in all of its coverage going forward. The editorial: "Why drop the term now? Why not yesterday or last year? The answer is that, as attitudes evolve, words can move from common parlance to unacceptable in good company." The paper "will publish the term Redskin in reader letters about the controversy and in quotations in stories about the controversy when a full quotation seems particularly relevant." Otherwise, the name "will not appear" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/4).
POUNDING THE PAVEMENT: In DC, Rick Maese profiled ESPN's Adam Schefter, who has "perfected the formula" for covering the league "perhaps better than any NFL reporter who’s ever preceded him." Schefter has a "tireless work ethic, the bully pulpit of ESPN and the leveraging of information from sources as a commodity to get more from others." From a media standpoint, the NFL "is covered unlike anything else in American sport, and somehow Schefter's reporting rises above the din." Schefter "attended zero games last year and rarely talks to athletes face-to-face, yet he’s ... the most prolific news-breaker in America’s most popular sport." Other reporters "certainly contribute important reporting to the game’s biggest headlines, but on a day-to-day basis, whether a transaction impacts your favorite franchise or just your fantasy team, no one is more important than Schefter" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/3).
THE WRONG CALL? In Miami, Barry Jackson reported CBS on Sunday will show Patriots-Dolphins to 39% of U.S. media markets -- "the highest percentage of its six games" in the 1:00pm ET window. However, the net said that Jim Nantz and Phil Simms were assigned to Raiders-Jets "because that game is airing in two of the nation's largest markets" in N.Y. and L.A. Trent Green and Greg Gumbel will call the Dolphins game. Nantz and Simms originally were assigned to Browns-Steelers, but "were taken off that game when Johnny Manziel lost out in his bid to be the Browns' starter." Still, Patriots-Dolphins is CBS' "best game Sunday and warranted the presence of its lead announcing team, or at the very least, No. 2 team Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts," who were assigned to Browns-Steelers (MIAMIHERALD.com, 9/3).
WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM: The BUFFALO NEWS notes reporter Vic Carucci is returning to the paper "as a Bills beat reporter beginning Sept. 24." Carucci "covered the Bills for 17 years before joining NFL.com as a columnist" in '99. He "has spent the past three years as a senior editor" for Browns.com. Carucci "steps in for Mark Gaughan, who requested a change from full-time Bills coverage after 23 years on the beat" (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/4).
