Howard Eskin Accused Eliot Shorr-Parks and Jimmy Kempski of Making up Stories

Gotta love Howard Eskin. Or hate him. Judging by most of you, you all hate him. Can’t fake understanding why, though. Ever since I sat at my desk job four years ago and yelled at my radio and tossed it around a few times, I understood the love-hate relationship, mainly hate, that the Philly sports fans have with Eskin.

Yesterday, NJ.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks reported that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was the guy who wanted Sam Bradford back in midnight green the most. PhillyVoice’s Jimmy Kempski merely suggested Carson Wentz would be inactive on game days, like most third-string quarterbacks are, and it blew up. It wasn’t exactly a report. But don’t tell Eskin that.

On the WIP Morning Show today with Angelo Cataldi and Rhea Hughes, Eskin accused Shorr-Parks of making up his story and basically said Kempski’s story about Wentz wasn’t, I don’t know, I guess worthy of publishing. Whatever. Here’s the exchange Eskin had with Cataldi and Hughes this morning:

Cataldi: I want to ask you this next one. Hold on. This next one will test even your ability to be a spokesman for the Eagles. Alright? Eliot Shorr-Parks reported yesterday–
 
Eskin: Oh, no.

Cataldi: –that the reason Bradford is back is because Jeff Lurie, the owner, insisted upon it. Is it a good idea for the owner to be that involved in personnel?
 
Eskin: You’ve already taken it to the next step that it’s reality. That is total absolute, 100 percent nonsense. Just like a lot of… there’s no football right now until next week. They just create things. All these people create things–
 
Rhea Hughes: So, you’re saying Eliot made this story up?
 
Eskin: Yes.
 
Hughes: OK. That’s ridiculous, Howard.
 
Eskin: I’m giving you reality. That’s nonsense. Nonsense. The owner didn’t–
 
Hughes: That’s a pretty strong accusation you’re making against the writer. You’re saying he made up the story.
 
Cataldi: Hold on, Howard. What did happen?
 
Eskin: First of all, when they signed Sam Bradford, they had not moved up yet in the draft. They had not moved up. He still, he did play well when he came back from injury. If the Eagles would drop less footballs – because they led the league in dropped footballs – if they would drop less footballs, he would’ve had better numbers. Sam Bradford’s not a great quarterback, I think he’s a good quarterback. But there’s absolutely no way, no way… we gravitate to this nonsense–
 
Cataldi: How did it happen then? Explain it to me. If you’re saying Eliot made it up, was it Howie Roseman who said, ‘I’m back in power now, I want Bradford. Was it Doug Pederson who came here and said, ‘I wanna keep Bradford.’ Who’s idea was it that they bring Bradford back if it wasn’t Lurie’s?
 
Eskin: I think it was Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman. Because they needed a quarterback. You don’t go into the season and not let him go. You needed a quarterback. And if you knew you were gonna draft a quarterback, they didn’t know they were gonna get Carson Wentz, they knew they were gonna look for a quarterback. That was clear. They knew that. But they didn’t know they were gonna get Carson Wentz and they could compete more with Sam Bradford. Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson made that decision.
 
All this stuff you see… ‘all this stuff’… a lot of this stuff you see on the internet, like Jimmy Kempski, all of a sudden it’s rocket science that Carson Wentz is not gonna dress. Give me a break.
 
Cataldi: Eskin, I don’t know why– from now on, I’m getting all my Eagles information directly from you. All they do is make stuff up. You’re the only one who’s presenting facts.
 
Eskin: And a lot of times they do. Nobody cares anymore because you gotta put stuff–
 
Hughes: Howard, that’s just ridiculous. I mean, it’s ridiculous for you to say all of these people who cover the team are making stories up.
 
Eskin: I think there is a lot of this, many of these things, when there’s nothing going on. You need a story, and all of a sudden out of the clear blue, ‘Jeffrey Lurie is the one who wanted him back.’

Now, Eskin is still a pretty big name locally in sports. He’s broken some big stories in the last few years, including David Montgomery’s situation with the Phillies, the only local reporter who cared enough about one of the team’s owners, John Middleton, to give us some information on him. He’s the Eagles’ lapdog not named Dave Spadaro, and I’m sure they’ve fed him information they’d like to fit their narrative.

He’s also thrown a lot of shit at the wall to see if it sticks. He’s not the only one who does it, for sure, but calling out people for making up stories is pretty laughable when you’re also looked at as someone who makes up stories.

Remember when Fletcher Cox apparently wouldn’t sign a deal with the Eagles that guaranteed him around $60 million? Cox’s agent blasted him the next day, although Eskin stood by his report. Cox signed a deal that guaranteed him $63 million. So, Eskin also seems full of shit himself. Which he often is.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look to Eskin for news. He reported Sam Bradford wasn’t going anywhere. He also reported Bradford passed on a four-year, $72 million offer from the Eagles. Bradford vehemently denied that report. Eskin also said that Jon Gruden wasn’t interested in becoming the next Eagles’ head coach after they fired Chip Kelly. Then he said he thought Tom Coughlin would be the next head coach of the Eagles.

Ah, forget it.

You know, Shorr-Parks did write this piece about Jackson’s involvement in a gang a few years ago. Which hasn’t exactly been corroborated. Maybe Eskin’s onto something?

Nah.

Listen to the entire interview below, then rip your eyes out. The above exchange occurs at the 4-minute mark.