NFL reporter Albert Breer last week agreed to join The MMQB after spending more than five years at NFL Network, and he said the net is a "very limiting place in a lot of different ways." Appearing on Boston-based WBZ-FM's "Toucher & Rich" Friday, Breer said, "The rules were one way when I got there and they’re very, very different now. There are a lot of stories that I haven’t been able to do that I will be able to do now." He said there was "very clearly a wall between us and the league" when he arrived at the net from the Boston Globe. Breer: "One of the first questions I asked when I left the Globe is, ‘Am I going to be able to do the job the way I did at the Globe?’ And the people that were there at the time said, ‘Absolutely.’ That held true for a little while. That wall’s now gone, and that’s a big reason why probably two or three months ago I just decided we’re going to stop talking to them and we are going to find somewhere else to go." He added, "I am glad I found a really, really good place to go, and hopefully we can do some real good stories there” (“Toucher & Rich,” WBZ-FM, 4/22). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote by telling the "truth about what goes on," Breer might bring change to NFL Network. Sports leagues and teams "hiring reporters who cover those leagues and teams won't be going away." However, if people are "willing to point out how the inherent lack of independence actually manifests itself, maybe sports leagues and sports teams will work harder to ensure that a true firewall exists between the reporting arm and the business arm of the overall enterprise" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 4/23).
WELCOME ABOARD: THE MMQB's Peter King writes both Breer and fellow new hire Tim Rohan, who formerly worked for the N.Y. Times, will "begin with us later this spring." King: "I’m really excited about how they’ll raise the bar at our site, a bar already set high by our Jenny Vrentas, Robert Klemko, Emily Kaplan, Andy Benoit, Andrew Brandt and our editing team, and our video team. We’re just finishing our third year, and we look forward to 30 more" (MMQB.SI.com, 4/25).
