This past Tuesday on February 23, ESPN reporter Jamison Hensley wrote a piece about the Baltimore Ravens’ pass-rushers, and how things could play out financially for them during this offseason. In the article, Hensley referenced the fact that Matthew Judon played below-average in 2020 on a franchise tag, and claimed that Baltimore tried to sign Judon to a long-term deal months ago.
Soon after the article was published, Judon absolutely went off on Hensley on Twitter and Instagram, claiming that the reports were lies. Hensley mildly criticized Judon for his lackluster play in 2020, saying:
“Last year, Judon fell short of expectations after getting the franchise tag, recording six sacks and 21 quarterback hits.”
However, that didn’t seem to be the part that Judon had a problem with. When discussing the financial dilemmas for Baltimore, Hensley said:
“According to a source, the Ravens tried to strike a long-term deal with Judon this summer by offering him what Za’Darius Smith received in Green Bay (an average of $16.5 million) but he declined,”
Judon continued to rip on Hensley on his social media accounts and bashed him for publishing a false report. The Ravens’ two-time pro-bowler even threatened to release photos of Hensley at a strip club if he did not apologize for his ‘lies’ in the report.
From there, the string of tweets went on between the linebacker and the reporter yesterday, but no real progress was made towards mending the relationship between the two.
Just today, ESPN came out with a statement defending the reporting of Hensley, saying:
“We stand by Jamison Hensley’s reporting, and Hensley added Matt Judon’s perspective within the story. “Regardless, the since-deleted personal attacks toward him were completely uncalled for.”
I think it’s almost laughable that a professional football player is getting so mad over the fine details of an article that really only talks about the contract details of Judon in a couple of lines. What Judon did was borderline illegal, and all Hensley did was go to a strip club, so who’s to say who’s in the wrong?
It will be interesting to see how the situation backfires for Matthew Judon as he approaches free agency. Overall it’s not a good look because Hensley replied to several of Judon’s tweets in a very level-headed manner. But hey, may the bigger man win.
