The following was submitted to us by our old friend, SMD. The timing of the piece was perfect as Jerricho Cotchery was featured last night in a FANTASTIC piece on ESPN’s television show, E:60. If you didn’t see it, you need to find a replay of it and watch it. It was summed up by New York Jets Head Coach, Eric Mangini, “It’s hard to get better than Jerricho Cotchery”
Television producers in the NFL have it hard. Each game is such a big event that there are many different story angles to cover. How can they possibly decide which stories to highlight? If only there were some sort of professional who could pitch them story ideas. If only there were some sort of document that producers could read over, that has the research for a given story already completed. This document might look something like this;
RIVERS AND COTCHERY REUNITED IN BATTLE ON MONDAY NIGHT
Raleigh, NC – When the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets meet on Monday night, one of college football’s greatest passing combinations will once again share the field, but for opposing teams. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Jets wideout Jerricho Cotchery played at NC State together from 2000-2003 and provided fans with many wins and a lot of excitement. Rivers threw for 13, 484 yards while wearing a Wolfpack uniform and 3,119 of those yards were passes to Cotchery. While Rivers was finishing fourth on the all-time NCAA passing yardage list, Cotchery was breaking school record for career receptions and 100-yard receiving games. Cotchery’s 3119 yards are second in NC State history only to another NFL great, Torry Holt of the St. Louis Rams.
“The Rivers to Cotchery connection was special,†said NC State Sports Information Director Annabelle Myers. “They had a sixth sense of where each other was at all times. Whenever the defense jumped offsides, Cotchery would take off on a go route and more often than not, Rivers got him the ball. It reminds me of the relationship that Rivers is establishing now in San Diego with Vincent Jackson.â€
Though the two Wolfpackers will be wearing different colors tonight, they’ll no doubt greet each other like old friends after the game because they know – the strength of the wolf is the pack.â€
For exclusive footage of Rivers and Cotchery in action while playing for NC State, please contact the NC State Sports Information Department.
Of course, this is a mock press release and I am being a little tounge in cheek, but watching the game last night between the Chargers and the Jets, I saw no mention of the special Rivers-Cotchery connection. While it’s possible I missed it, at most the reference was made in passing, the story was certainly not highlighted. And while I don’t have first-hand knowledge of how the NC State SID operates, I do know public relations work and know that television producers LOVE ready-made in-game stories like Rivers-Cotchery, so it’s a pretty safe, but not certain, bet that no serious effort was made to pitch the story.
With more Wolfpackers in the NFL that ever before, these opportunities exist every week. For example, this week’s NFL schedule features the Jets against the Cardinals, aka Jerricho Cotchery against Adrian Wilson. To be sure, not every story is as good as Rivers-Cotchery and many will not get aired. But we at least have to try. If we don’t promote ourselves, no one else will.
