“SMELL”-ing NFL Coverage with John H. McManus

This past Sunday (the first Sunday in February) was the most holy of days for football fans around the nation — Super Bowl Sunday. But for me it was just another Sunday. I got up early, spent most of the day at work and then threw myself into homework once I got back home. 

I’ve never been much of a football fan and I don’t plan on changing that any time soon; even if I do happen to attend a university that idolizes the sport and its players like the Olympians of old. It just seems so overrated to me. But while I may not care for it, there are many who view football as a way of life.

Take Mike and Kyle Shanahan for instance. The two would have been the “first father-son head-coaching duo” to coach 49ers Super Bowl wins; but alas it wasn’t meant to be as the Chiefs beat out the San Francisco team for the win this year. 

But before the loss, an article was published by the NFL talking about the history-making duo. While not focused on a big news story, it’s still worth running through SMELL as it appears to be largely appealing to the reader’s emotions more than anything else. In terms of sources, the author used very few. A quote from 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is included (most likely as a means of entertaining and persuading the reader to think favorably of the Shanahans) and there is a brief mention of an NFL research study (although curiously the link to said research is not provided in the article). 

The Jimmy Garoppolo quote is not surprising. As quarterback, Garoppolo is around coach Kyle Shanahan a lot and will therefore have high proximity and expertise as a source. However, this means that his independence is quite low, and he may have contributed the quote to cast a more favorable view on the 49ers as a team. However, I am surprised that the writer didn’t include a link to the aforementioned NFL research. The purpose for the NFL research was to inform readers. Had the writer linked it, the sources credibility would’ve been much higher. 

Overall, it seems that this article isn’t the most credible. In addition to the lackluster sources, the writer uses language and imagery such as “tender moment between father and son” and “overflowing with memorable moments.” All these suggest that the writer may not be as independent of his subject as he should be.