Analyst apologizes for 'unnecessary distraction' to NFL team

NFL Media’s Colleen Wolfe on The Rich Eisen Show in 2023.

Colleen Wolfe had already seen her reporting of an alleged dust-up between New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh and owner Woody Johnson be refuted by SNY’s Connor Hughes and Johnson himself. The story took on a life of its own, with Johnson personally attacking a network that he partially owns for an “irresponsible report.”

And that led to Wolfe addressing the situation not 24 hours later and issuing a statement of her own.

“Regarding my comments surrounding the Jets on the @AroundTheNFL podcast: no, I was not at the Annual Meetings, and yes, I was told of the exchange between head coach Robert Saleh and Woody Johnson by someone in attendance,” wrote Wolfe. “Others on-site Sunday night have since reached out and described the interaction differently. My intent wasn’t to break news; I leave that to the insiders. My sincerest apologies to the Jets organization for the unnecessary distraction during such a crucial part of their offseason.”

Without speculating, it appears to be one of those times when perceptions of intensity can be subjective. What one person considers “heated” might seem mild to another. And it appears that, in this instance, Wolfe’s account of events may have been over-inflated.

It’s quite notable that she would issue an apology. And as we wrote earlier, it would be far-fetched to imagine that Wolfe would make something up in this instance, especially without much to gain. But the Jets are also an easy target, and Hughes’ reporting and Johnson’s fierce public statement made it clear early on that perhaps the events foretold by Wolfe played out differently.

It now appears that way.

Wolfe’s apology comes after a 1/32 owner of NFL Media decided to call it out for irresponsible reporting. While Wolfe claims not to have been breaking something but merely telling something on a podcast shared by a source, the story took on a life of its own, especially with an NFL owner getting directly involved.

[Colleen Wolfe on Twitter/X]