This past week a report regarding the character of Eagles QB Carson Wentz was for whatever reason actually published. The article itself didn’t just have a little factual basis. It had none. The piece completely wreaked of desperation by the author Joe Santoliquito. In the article, Santoliquito wrote that Wentz had a tendency to be selfish in 2018. He tried to prove his point by talking about the way that Carson Wentz distributed the football this season. He wrote that Nick Foles spread the ball around more. There are some very disturbing holes in the article. Eagles LT Lane Johnson was absolutely correct to call it fake news. Let’s discuss hole number one.
1: I have become acquainted with nearly every Philadelphia Sportswriter. I read the work of Brandon Lee Gowton (who’s an acquaintance ) Jimmy Kempski, Jeff Kerr, and heck even Dave Spadaro (Who’s work is very uninteresting, as he simply states the obvious in every article he writes. At least the man is honest.) The list goes on. I had never ever heard of Joe Santoliquito. I’ve asked other Eagles fans about him and it seems as if he is a ghost or evil spirit. In fact, more Eagles fans were familiar with my work as a small-time sports writer (Big time Novelist) than that of Joe Santoliqiuito. That is…troubling. Now, let us discuss hole number two.
2- Joe said he spoke to roughly half a dozen Philadelphia Eagles players who requested anonymity. Yes well, I just had lunch with Eagles legend QB Harold Carmichael and afterward got to drive his fancy sportscar which requested anonymity as to how fancy it was. True…story? No, I wish it was though. That would be bloody awesome. Let’s get more to the point. Nearly every player on the Philadelphia Eagles roster has come to the defense of Carson Wentz.
Players on both sides of the ball like WR1 Alshon Jeffery, TE Zach Ertz, ( Who wrote: Do not believe everything you read!) OT Lane Johnson ( Who simply wrote: Fake News!), DT Fletcher Cox, and RB Jay Ajayi. Even former Eagles stepped into the defense of Carson Wentz such as WR Torrey Smith and RB Kenjon Barner who both said that Wentz is a great and humble guy. Smith called the article absurd. There are about 50 other Eagles who defended Wentz but I don’t have the space to name everyone. The biggest hole has been covered. Joe Santoliquito (If that is his real name) did not reveal one real source. He does not write in Philadelphia. This would seem to be his first big story, and unfortunately, it not only lacks any real substance but is absurdly unfactual and untrue. He has recently tried to defend his work to no avail and is now a dishwasher at a small county prison in Kentucky. That was not a true statement, but it about sums up the job he did writing his article regarding Wentz. Let us discuss the third and final hole courtesy of pro football focus.
3: Joe said in his ( I guess we’ll call it an article…geez) article (That really hurt to write) that Nick Foles distributed the ball to more receivers than Wentz did when in fact it was Wentz who hit over 10 WRs on the year to Foles 9. That seems pretty dang even to me. Did Foles provide a spark when he played this year? Yes, he did. Why did he? My personal take: He was healthy and Wentz was not all season long. They are both great QBs in my mind. Joe may or may not have had one valid point in his story. That was about how the team played with Foles. I recently had the chance to talk to some football players (different football team) about how they felt about another football player as my friend and colleague Jesse Jeffs knows. When the story fell through I did not make up fake sources and run with it anyway as it seems Joe Santoliquito did. One valid point in an article that lacked any others did not deserve the absurd amount of attention it received on Sports shows like First Take, First things First and Good Morning football. Hopefully, this actual sports article helps put it to bed for good. It is time for Joe Santoliquito to quit when it comes to writing about pro sports teams. (Unless he wants to write about the hated Dallas Cowboys. Trade him to Dallas now!) Joe Santoliquito, I wish you luck, but please enter a new line of business. Become an EMT. a pizza delivery boy, or quite literally anything else. You don’t belong in this world as a writer! Fake news!
ATTN Dynasty Commissioners: Do you want to do something cool for your league? How about a 1-hour live show dedicated to YOUR league? Team-by-team breakdowns, rankings, and more. For details and to book a show, visit: GoingFor2.com/plp.
