ESPN's Chris Mortensen cancelled a scheduled appearance on Boston-based WEEI-FM's "Dennis & Callahan" Friday morning, claiming that hosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan "made a mistake by drumming up business for the show and how I would address my reporting for the first time," according to Mike Florio of PRO FOOTBALL TALK. Mortensen, who was criticized for a January report about the number of footballs used in the AFC Championship game to be under-inflated, wrote in an e-mail to WEEI, "I will not allow WEEI, (Patriots owner Robert) Kraft or anybody to make me the centerpiece of a story that has been misreported far beyond anything I did in the first 48 hours. Maybe when the lawsuit is settled, in Brady’s favor, I hope, we can revisit. Don’t call." Florio noted the station "tried to call him anyway," but there was "no answer" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 7/31). NESN.com's Ben Watanabe notes the hosts’ stated plan was to "question Mortensen’s initial report," which was "later found to be false." That "apparently led to Mortensen’s decision." It is "understandable Mortensen wouldn’t want to hop in the interrogation chair with John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, who aren’t always the kindest of hosts, but one wonders why he’d agree to appear in the first place." A Boston-based sports-radio show "is obligated to ask questions on behalf of its fans, and Patriots fans are pretty mad at Mortensen’s false report that set off Deflategate." Watanabe: "If Dennis and Callahan didn’t question Mortensen about his report, they wouldn’t be doing their jobs" (NESN.com, 7/31).
DODGING A BULLET: Callahan on Friday's show said Mortensen “has sweated out the last six months” after his report came out, because he "knew this time of day was coming." Callahan: "He knew he screwed up.” Callahan said NFL VP/Game Operations Mike Kensil, the alleged source for Mortensen, “hates the Patriots” but he has to be “getting a little nervous because this is fireable, feeding a false narrative, a false story to get a team” into trouble. Dennis said, “They set a sting (at the AFC Championship game) and they sprung that sting, and Kensil was the alpha dog leading that pack.” Callahan said, “I’m not sure that crosses the line. The story that he fed -- allegedly -- Mortensen, that is … unethical" (“Dennis & Callahan,” WEEI-FM, 7/31).
