Mike Florio, Jason Whitlock, and Clay Travis Got Into It on Twitter
By Liam McKeone
Saturday brought unexpected sports media conflict as Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio faced off with Outkick the Coverage's Jason Whitlock and Clay Travis on Saturday afternoon. It started on Friday night, when Whitlock called out Florio in a tweet mentioning he had never mentioned Juneteenth on the PFT account before, and noted he had "never hired a black man." Florio responded, saying he asked if Whitlock would write a column for PFT, but Whitlock said he couldn't afford him. Things escalated from there.
Don't forget, he's also never hired a black man either. Florio will take a knee and do every gesture imaginable but he's not going to hire a black writer. Florio is pro-gesture, not pro-black. https://t.co/4uIsvjx7qm
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 20, 2020
A long time ago, I started calling out your phony, race-baiting virtue signaling and asked you to back it up with the tangible action of using your power and influence to employ a SINGLE black man. You may not remember that, but I sure do. https://t.co/M7AEKINT9V
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 20, 2020
Florio did not tweet this directly to Whitlock, but it is not hard to connect the dots.
There's a segment of the media that blows dog whistles in order to curry favor with a segment of the population from whom they can profit by telling them the things they want to hear. That's their prerogative, but I'm not going to be bullied by them.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 20, 2020
All that led to Travis and Outkick publishing an article about how Whitlock "decapitated 'woke' loser" Florio. Florio did not take kindly to the headline, beginning a war of words between himself and Travis.
This morning @WhitlockJason decapitated “woke” loser @ProFootballTalk on these Twitter streets. It’s open season on blue checkmark brigade hypocrites. Enjoy: https://t.co/Bv1iAJcKAE
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
The king of all frauds chimes in. Everything he and his army of dog whistlers write and say is aimed at catering to one specific segment of the population. They don't truly believe what they write and say; they say it because they hope to get rich from those who want to hear it. https://t.co/SVsGXENOXu
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 20, 2020
Florio your radio show got canceled and no one even noticed because you’re a huge loser with no audience. You write about something that people love and yet you have no fans. That’s hard to pull off, congrats. https://t.co/u0lU9Y3nnP
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
Also, this "you write about something people love and have no fans" take is very weird, even by your standards. Tens of millions of weekly page views and video views on a website with traffic and profile dwarfing yours would say otherwise.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 20, 2020
My radio show lasted more than five years, and it continues as a TV show, just like yours (oh wait). You're a performance artist, a snake oil salesman, a charlatan whose sole interest is making money by telling 30 percent of the people everything they want to hear. https://t.co/mUbn3pxtW3
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 20, 2020
Your “television show” has fewer viewers than my Periscopes and Facebook Lives, Mikey. It will be gone soon too just like your radio show that no one listened to and was canceled. Keep killing it, bud. https://t.co/jw7XB5Q49g
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
The show was just re-upped for another year (even though you "reported" that it was being canceled four years ago), so keep waiting. Our TV ratings plus digital views >>> videos of you messing with your thinning hair and fixing your wrinkled T-shirt and sounding like a lunatic.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 20, 2020
Mikey, I cringed reading this on your behalf too. You’ve lost it, bud. https://t.co/LjkAnjTo8P
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
Florio, I don’t worry about what people say about me online. Never have, never will. This all started because in 15 years you’ve never hired a black writer. Why is that & why are you dodging the question? What are you trying to cover for with all this fake wokeness?
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
You're a smart guy, or at least you believe you are. Take a step back. Look at how many people we employ. Look at how little turnover we've had. One of my four full-time writers is female. Have you ever hired a female? Does this mean you're a misogynist? (See how easy that is?)
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 20, 2020
The editor of @Outkick for four years was a woman. So, yes, we have hired a woman, she ran the site. But back to you, with all those millions of page views & huge success you have bragged about today you still couldn’t afford to employ a black person in 15 years? Interesting.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
Whitlock hopped back in the ring near the end.
Serious question. Should NBC impose a Rooney Rule on PFT? Making a living writing about a league with 70 percent black players. That point of view never represented on his site in 15 years of existence. How many millions has Florio earned in those 15 years? https://t.co/TTW9qP2SDN
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 20, 2020
Someone sent me an old-school PFT post about Subway, Jared and Mike Strahan. WOW. WOW. WOW. Florio could've definitely benefitted from some diversity. Explains why Mike is wearing the Woke beard. Probably deal he cut not to be canceled. https://t.co/TTW9qP2SDN
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 20, 2020
Mike, remember when your site ran the countdown clock "Days Without An Arrest" for the NFL? I think most people would see and hear that as a dog whistle. Maybe if you hired ONE black man in 15 years, you would know that. https://t.co/fEsnYCyvsW
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 20, 2020
Florio is trending. My work here is done. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday. I gotta get a workout in. Wish me luck.
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 20, 2020
Then Travis swooped in for one final shot (for now).
Mike Florio writing his white guilt column right now on @ProFootballTalk. I need tears, Mikey, or I won’t believe your apology to the woke community for all your slurs over the years. pic.twitter.com/zQxy3Nv4uH
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 20, 2020
Woof. I'll let you decide who is right and who is wrong here, but I think we can all agree this ran for a little longer than it should have. Such a public airing of grievances rarely goes well. I would also like to note that it is hard to understand the impact of calling someone a "'woke' loser," but I digress.
Sports media feuds. How about 'em?