When I was going through stories earlier today, I saw one from the Detroit Free Press that was titled, "Lions WR Nate Burleson Takes Dig At Detroit." My first reaction was, "Oh boy, here we go. I do not want to see fans cannibalize Burleson over something likely taken out of context."
Upon reading the story, it was immediately clear to me that the Free Press was simply trying to create a stir by sensationalizing some comments Burleson made during an interview. Here is what Burleson said:
"Seeing about 35 guys there working out — this time of year, in Detroit is not the most desirable place, so you got guys flying in, paying for their own hotel, paying for rental cars — so that just kind of shows the dedication and really the direction of our team right now."
To be fair to the writer of this article (the author is simply listed as "Detroit Free Press Staff"), the last line references all of the rain we've been getting in the Detroit area recently. Clearly the writer understood Burleson was jokingly referring to the bad weather, which Burleson confirmed on Twitter.
Seriously FreeP? Lions fans know what i meant! http://t.co/Gc8QTLc - 'it's about guys flying in from warm cities to voluntarily workout' SMH
A headline like "Nate Burleson Jokes About Bad Weather In Detroit" isn't quite as shocking as "Burleson Takes Dig At Detroit," so the Free Press headline writer went with the latter. The problem is this makes it seem like Burleson is trashing Detroit, as does their updated headline: "Lions WR Nate Burleson: Detroit 'not the most desirable place'?"
Now the Free Press has taken his comment completely out of context for their new headline, which replaces one that completely misrepresented what he said. Well done.