PA Season Ticket Holder
06-16-2003, 01:06 PM
Speaking of e-mail exchanges, we received several messages on Sunday from a person who claims to be close to Bears defensive tackle Ted Washington. Based on the AOL screen name of the sender of the messages, our guess is that the writer is Washington's mother. (And if our guess on this point is wrong, we invite Ted, his agent, or his mom to set us straight.)
By way of background, we reported on Saturday that Washington requested to be released from the Bears in a meeting that occurred last Wednesday. We also reported that the Bears are reluctant to let him go right now, because management is concerned that the Vikings or the Packers would sign him promptly.
Here's the first message we received:
the story by mike flori[o] is a complete lie about a meeting that never took place. i hope a retraction is coming or there will be a lawsuit. you should let the bears do there own dirty work instead of joining their smear campaign. ask the bears how they almost caused ted washington t[o] loose [sic] his foot.
In response, we asked the writer to let us know who he/she is and why he/she knows that our story is incorrect. The reply, in part:
who i am is someone very close to ted. i prefer to remain in the background. i don't know that you can respect that, regardless i know the meeting never took place, i know ted never made those statements, i know i am one of the people closest to him encouraging him to request a retraction or sue. i don't read reports on any support for him from the bears, i only see where the bears are doing everything in their power to minimize his impact. if lies are what you choose to print i can't stop you, but this time ted's camp is going to fight back.
It's the first time we've ever been accused (and likely the last) of being shills for the Bears. But even if the boys in Chitown had somehow planted the "Ted Wants Out" story on our site, we're having a real hard time figuring out how Washington would have any legal recourse.
If the e-mails we received threatening litigation are indeed from a source close to Washington, it's clear that the former Pro Bowler does want of Chitown. So even if his communication of that sentiment to the Bears didn't occur in the format of a traditional sit-down, the import of the story is true -- Ted and his family are angry with the Bears, and they know (or at least sense) that he'll be released in the short term.
The story might not be over. On Monday morning, we found in our inbox an e-mail message, which apparently is from his agent, Angelo Wright. Stay tuned.
http://profootballtalk.com/monrumors.htm
By way of background, we reported on Saturday that Washington requested to be released from the Bears in a meeting that occurred last Wednesday. We also reported that the Bears are reluctant to let him go right now, because management is concerned that the Vikings or the Packers would sign him promptly.
Here's the first message we received:
the story by mike flori[o] is a complete lie about a meeting that never took place. i hope a retraction is coming or there will be a lawsuit. you should let the bears do there own dirty work instead of joining their smear campaign. ask the bears how they almost caused ted washington t[o] loose [sic] his foot.
In response, we asked the writer to let us know who he/she is and why he/she knows that our story is incorrect. The reply, in part:
who i am is someone very close to ted. i prefer to remain in the background. i don't know that you can respect that, regardless i know the meeting never took place, i know ted never made those statements, i know i am one of the people closest to him encouraging him to request a retraction or sue. i don't read reports on any support for him from the bears, i only see where the bears are doing everything in their power to minimize his impact. if lies are what you choose to print i can't stop you, but this time ted's camp is going to fight back.
It's the first time we've ever been accused (and likely the last) of being shills for the Bears. But even if the boys in Chitown had somehow planted the "Ted Wants Out" story on our site, we're having a real hard time figuring out how Washington would have any legal recourse.
If the e-mails we received threatening litigation are indeed from a source close to Washington, it's clear that the former Pro Bowler does want of Chitown. So even if his communication of that sentiment to the Bears didn't occur in the format of a traditional sit-down, the import of the story is true -- Ted and his family are angry with the Bears, and they know (or at least sense) that he'll be released in the short term.
The story might not be over. On Monday morning, we found in our inbox an e-mail message, which apparently is from his agent, Angelo Wright. Stay tuned.
http://profootballtalk.com/monrumors.htm