Sports Media Continues to Shield Mina Kimes from Criticism

Twitter is mad.

This time, former 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia is the target of the wrath. Garcia committed a grave mortal sin when he criticized ESPN analyst Mina Kimes on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Kimes belittled Jimmy Garoppolo's contribution to the 49ers, who advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three years. According to Kimes, the 49ers are winning despite Garoppolo, not because of him.

"Garoppolo is the definition of being part of a group project that gets an A, while doing none of the work," Kimes said on Tuesday's First Take.

An Instagram account called OurSF49ers shared this quip, which caught Garcia's attention. Garcia then fired back in the comment section:

Because sports media members do not allow anyone to criticize Kimes, her colleagues and other bloggers immediately rushed to her defense, accusing Garcia of -- wait for it -- sexism. 

"Garcia sounded off on Kimes’ 'group project' comment by calling her out for essentially being a woman and never playing football at a competitive level," Heavy writes.

No, he didn't call her out for essentially being a woman.

Garcia's comments are not sexist. Garcia believes that people who have never played football at a high level should not opine about those who have. That doesn't mean women. It means all people who haven't played professional football.

And therein lies the issue. Most NFL analysts, especially at ESPN, have played professional football. In fact, Kimes is the only person at ESPN, man or woman, who has never played professional football yet has the title of NFL analyst. Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Keyshawn Johnson and Ryan Clark all played in the NFL at one time or another.

Kimes has not. So it's natural that former players might question her credentials. If ESPN allowed Matt Barrie -- who also has never played high-level football -- to break down game film, they would question his credentials too.

Now, that doesn't mean Garcia is correct that analysts without a football background shouldn't have an opinion about the game or a player. In fact, I strongly disagree with him. Just because someone hasn't thrown a pass in the NFL doesn't mean he or she can't discuss a game in an informed and insightful manner.

For proof, look no further than Garoppolo's team, the 49ers. Head coach Kyle Shanahan may be the brightest offensive mind in all of professional football, but he never played in the NFL. Moreover, Kimes' point is fair. Garoppolo has been below average this postseason.

And yet, it seems that by hiring only former players to be NFL analysts -- with the exception of Kimes -- ESPN agrees with Garcia, that former players are the best talents to analyze the game.

Which raises a key question: does ESPN believe that Kimes is so exceptionally qualified that it hired her as an NFL analyst, despite the fact that she has never played? Or does the network merely like the positive press it receives for having elevated a woman to talk football as an analyst?

My guess is that the answers to those questions matter to the suits at ESPN and blue-check sports media, but not Garcia. Jeff Garcia is likely more concerned with defending his fellow NFL brethren than in deconstructing the hiring decisions at a sports network.

To the chagrin of the Twitter mob and Kimes' co-workers, not every negative comment is rooted in sexism or racism. Nor should Kimes be immune to criticism. ESPN awarded Mina Kimes a significant platform at its network, a platform no other journalist there has. That kind of platform comes under scrutiny, both fair and unfair. Kimes is a high-profile sports analyst and good at her job. She is not a victim of sexism, as even she tries to claim.

However, it is sexist that Mina Kimes' sports media colleagues don't think she can handle criticism from football players. Think about that.