NFL Reporter Admits To Making Up Fake Sideline Reports

Sports reporter Charissa Thompson was speaking on the Pardon My Take podcast recently when she admitted something she probably shouldn't have:

While working as a sideline reporter for NFL games, she would occasionally make up the reports. Thompson said:

I’ve said this before, so I haven’t been fired for saying it, but I’ll say it again. I would make up the report sometimes because, A, the coach wouldn’t come out at halftime or it was too late and I was like, I didn’t want to screw up the report, so I was like, "I’m just gonna make this up."

I KIND of understand where she's coming from. Sometimes it just wasn't possible to get a good answer, and viewers and her bosses wanted one.

BUT... truth is the backbone of journalism.

It's not something you can really take any liberties with and still be considered credible.

She went on, "No coach is gonna get mad if I say, 'Hey, we need to stop hurting ourselves, we need to be better on third down, we need to stop turning the ball over and do a better job of getting off the field.' Like, they’re not gonna correct me on that. I'm like 'it's fine, I'll just make up the report.'"

Here are some likely examples:

I tracked down a couple of Charissa Thompson's sideline reports from 2008 because why not. pic.twitter.com/qGltycwbaA

— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) November 16, 2023