ESPN Backs Up Ed Werder: "We Stand By Our Reporting"

Even though Terrell Owens went out of his way to single out the supposedly "made up" reporting of ESPN's Cowboy specialist Ed Werder, the WWL is sticking by their mustachioed menace.

"We stick by our reporting" is the official, unsurprising quote from ESPN officials after Owens' rant. Werder was questioned by many people about his anonymous sources that launched a week's worth of melodrama in Big D, but given Terrell Owens' history of torpedoing his own team, it didn't seem implausible that some Cowboys were getting sick of his antics. Werder's been the target of a spirited YouTube video and had his Wikipedia page completely altered since his initial reports surfaced, bringing more attention to the fiasco.

Then, yesterday, Deion Sanders piled on Werder as well during his hard-hitting NFL Network analysis when Rich Eisen a— former colleague of Werder's at ESPN— said he's never known Ed to be a liar. Deion had his own opinion, and Sports On My Mind has the transcript:

Why would you say he's not a liar? Why would, couldn't he be a liar? He's over at another network fighting with two other journalists (Cris Mortensen and Michael Smith) to have a name for himself in the capacity that he is in. So the most crap that they can come up with, they get their names mentioned. He's trying to get his name mentioned."

Eisen did his best to tamp down Sanders' accusations, but Deion was unrelenting: "You know the sad thing is that I have to balance my relationships as well as being an analyst because I know a lot more than I can really say on TV at times. But then it's my obligation to the fans to tell you what I know but balance that and not allow a relationship with many players inside that locker room to really say everything I know. So alot of what I'm saying isn't hearsay, it's known; it's the truth. And it's not just what T.O. is telling me, because I would check the facts with other receivers on the team as well as with other coaches on the team - as well as the owner of the team. So I never report hearsay - it's fact."

Fine. Ed Werder might have goosed this story a bit by resorting to anonymous sources, but I'd be curious to see if the brother-in-arms routine pulled by Romo, Witten, and T.O. would happen had the Cowboys lost last night's game. After a victory, though, Werder and the media are the enemy.

Ed Werder has yet to respond to an email request for comment. Bootsy Collins-type person was not contacted for comment.

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