ESPN's Stan Verrett Steals OutKick's Reporting On Justin Tucker, Refuses To Say Our Name

ESPN ran a segment last week on OutKick's conversation with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, his first since 16 massage therapists accused him of sexual misconduct in January, which he vehemently denies. 

Afterward, several readers of the site notified us about the oddity of the segment. Despite using exclusive quotes and reporting from OutKick, "SportsCenter" anchor Stan Verrett repeatedly referred to us as "some internet outlet."

OutKick asked ESPN public relations and "SportsCenter" coordinating producer Aisha Chaney for comment. Neither responded on the record, but two ESPN behind-the-scenes staffers who reviewed the segment confirmed a visibly upset Verrett refused to utter the word "OutKick."

Verrett went out of his way and undermined his own segment by throwing a tantrum over the source of the news. 

While OutKick is no favorite among ESPN executives and producers, several of them apologized to us, noting that Verrett's behavior was unethical and a violation of "SportsCenter" standards. 

There's background here. 

Verrett has been unusually focused on OutKick since at least 2020. In June of that year, he followed me on Twitter, and then he direct messaged me to call OutKick founder Clay Travis a "racist" and tell me to "go f--k myself." 

After years of lying about his exchange on social media, I posted the conversation online. Take a look:

Note: If you are going to lie about a private conversation that took place over text, be accurate. Otherwise, you will look like an unhinged buffoon.

Now, if you think such behavior by a man in his late 50s is unstable, consider that Verrett has spent the past five years obsessively tweeting at and about me. For example:

You can see his full five-year obsession with OutKick here. It's Olbermann-esque.

However, those screenshots don't even include the dozens he has since deleted, including one that claimed OutKick fired me in December. I have asked OutKick for comment on whether it fired me three months ago. We will update this story if we hear back. 

Still, if Verrett is accurate, we will credit him with the exclusive. It's called journalism. 

What's particularly telling is how frustrated ESPN is with Verrett's behavior, though it still shows reluctance to confront him. He is the embodiment of privilege. ESPN suspended Adrian Wojnarowski, one of the biggest stars at its network, in 2020 for sending a "f--k you" email that was publicized. ESPN said Wojnarowski's unprofessionalism embarrassed the company. Yet Verrett, a 1 am "SportsCenter" anchor, has been sending the equivalent of that for years and the network won't address it. 

Put simply, ESPN heads Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus are afraid to discipline Verrett because he will almost certainly respond with the race card. 

Amusingly, Verrett once criticized Clay Travis for saying, "Men should not play sports with women," and when Clay responded, Verrett told a random account that Clay was picking on him because "he is black."

Pitaro and Magnus did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Verrett. As white men, they are afraid of the race mob. Terrified.

Anyway, if you were watching "SportsCenter" last week and wondered where Justin Tucker and his wife's comments came from, the context of those comments, and the evidence they provided--here is the source of Verrett's segment.

Update: here is one of the segments: