Zach Wilson may be struggling on the field, but his work ethic off of it cannot be questioned
The sports journalism world is in a rough place. Anyone with access to the Internet can start up a rumor on Twitter and it will be taken as fact by the masses.
This momentarily occurred on Friday afternoon when unsubstantiated claims were made about the work ethic and off-field habits of New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson. In a since-deleted video, someone named Jordan Schultz appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and accused Wilson of “[being] late to meetings, screwing around at meetings, and not having the right attitude”.
These baseless claims were quickly squashed. An individual close to the situation told Jets X-Factor’s Robby Sabo that the reports about Wilson misbehaving or being tardy to meetings were not true.
The Zach Wilson reports about him “misbehaving” and/or “tardiness to meetings” are indeed not true, per a trusted individual—same person who has *not* refuted other recent reports in the atmosphere.
Rebuttal “selection” as opposed to “everything” is an important note per trust.
— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) January 20, 2023
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (who is probably the most reliable reporter in the business) was also quick to stomp on the rumors.
The on-field product was not what anyone wanted. But Zach Wilson worked insanely hard, was on time and did what was necessary to prepare. https://t.co/tKjj3w89D9
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 20, 2023
Rapoport’s tweet came in response to a post by McAfee that retracted the claims Schultz made on his show. McAfee said he had heard from sources that Wilson has never been late to a meeting. McAfee then deleted the original video in which Schultz’s claims were made.
While Wilson has struggled on the field, it is completely unfair to kick the kid while he is down by making unfounded claims about his character. By all accounts, Wilson has always been an extremely hard worker.
If anything, Wilson might be working too hard, not too little. Jets fans might recall a story by ESPN’s Rich Cimini that ran a few days before Wilson’s NFL debut in September 2021. Jets head coach Robert Saleh described a night during training camp when Wilson came into Saleh’s offense to chat about defensive schemes and stayed in until 11 o’clock.
“Dude, you have to go back to the room and get some sleep,” Saleh told Wilson, per Cimini.
Wilson’s on-field performance has been underwhelming. But there is no indication that his struggles are due to a lack of effort.
Folks, this whole situation is a perfect reminder that in today’s cruel social-media world, you must always double-check who you are getting your information from. It’s a necessary skill in a day and age where misinformation can spread like wildfire.
