Bruce Feldman Blasts ESPN After Taking Job at CBS Sports
Bruce Feldman, one of the first college football writers at ESPN, announced Thursday that he would take his talents to CBS Sports.
"After 17 years, I'm leaving ESPN," Feldman wrote on his Twitter account Thursday. "I'm excited to announce I've joined CBS Sports. My first day is today."
Before his Twitter announcement, Feldman had been unusually quiet in public forums for over a month. Reports surfaced about the sports writer being suspended indefinitely by ESPN in July after helping former Texas Tech coach, Mike Leach, compile his biography.
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Although ESPN initially denied the suspension, Feldman supporters reacted after her was noticeably silent on social media networks and failed to produce any new work. A Twitter campaign with the hash tag "#freebruce" began after his disappearance, causing speculation about the writer's absence.
After six weeks, the writer re-emerged with his Twitter announcement and opened up in a slew of interviews where he explained why he disappeared from the world of sports. In an interview for Sports Illustrated online, Feldman said ESPN ordered him to be silent.
"Let's put it this way, I was told not to blog, not to tweet, not to do any radio interviews," Feldman said in the SI.com interview.
"When I asked on that conference call [with ESPN officials], which was on a Thursday, about being scheduled to cover the SEC media kickoff in Alabama a week from then, I was told, 'No, you can't go,'" he recalled. "The day after the conference call, when ESPN was claiming that there was no suspension, Chad Millman, the editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine, actually added more restrictions. He was stopping me from being able to do my job."
After various interviews where Feldman stated that he properly communicated his plans to help Leach complete his book and was unfairly treated, ESPN responded with a statement.
"We have significant disagreements with his account. Beyond that we aren't commenting," ESPN said in a statement, according to New York Times.
Despite the battle between Feldman and ESPN, CBS is ready to start a new relationship with the journalist who claims he was "literally the first hire on what became ESPN.com," according to SI.com.
"There aren't too many writers covering college football with the experience and talent of Bruce Feldman and we're thrilled to have him join the team at CBSSports.com," said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager at CBSSports.com in an official press release announcing Feldman's new opportunity.
