How About This Washington Football Team Bombshell Reporters Can Tweet About But Not Report?

Anyone with an internet connection and mild interest in Washington's Nickname Pending Football Team TM has noticed an influx of vague scuttlebutt about another shoe dropping in addition to the less-racist rebrand. Blogging Icon Dan Steinberg is one of these people and helpfully codified some of the chatter one one place. And he's right. It's very weird.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio added that the rumblings center around a potential Washington Post story in the pipeline.

The best of the genre, of course, is this piece published on a Sports Illustrated platform with the incredible headline Bad News About to be Dropped!

"I don't know exactly what is coming out about the Washington NFL organization but have heard it's not pretty. May include a lot of stories about & from disgruntled employees (current/ former) & more. I would bury your head in sand."

As a veteran of the blog rumor game I am forced to appreciate the hustle. As an appreciator of fine journalism, though, I also wonder why reporters do this in the first place. Call me a simple-brained hayseed from Muncie, Indiana, but if they have the goods they should definitely deliver them.

Straddling the line by letting it be known that you're in possession of valuable information yet not doing anything with it seems a bit antithetical to the ideal role. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, there's the news-gathering, then there's the news dissemination. The latter is such a crucial part of the process.

There may be a bombshell article about to drop in the very near future about the toxicity of the Washington football team. One so bad that it makes the previously disclosed toxicity seem like child's play. Or ... there might not.

I can't help but think it's too much to ask to be credited for knowing exactly what all the details were if it does, in fact, come to fruition and also be recognized as knowing there was nothing there if no such piece is published.