Are you ready for some football? Thankfully, preseason is in full swing. In fact, the Patriots played the Eagles last night. Heading into the game, the big news was Tom Brady’s return to the field for the first time since missing almost the whole season last year due to a knee injury.
As it turned out, the on-field play was almost an afterthought.
During the game, news broke that the Eagles signed Micheal Vick, a highly controversial move — one that could have positive implications from a pure “X’s and O’s” perspective, but one sure to draw the ire of many fans, animal lovers and activists.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Eagles organization reached a deal with Vick on Tuesday. The official announcement wasn’t scheduled to happen until today (a press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m.). Doesn’t that seem like an awfully long time to keep a story like this under wraps?
A Lesson in Crisis Communication
On ESPN Radio this morning, Philadelphia beat reporter Sal Paolantonio noted that news broke during the game via email, text and Twitter. Fans were abuzz. Could it be true? The news spread like like wildfire — without any information from the Vick camp or Eagles representatives.
Let’s look at this from a crisis communication perspective:
When companies know they are facing a potential crisis situation, they take steps ahead of time to soften the blow. Not the Eagles. During the past few weeks, reporters speculated about which team would end up signing Vick. Eagles management emphatically denied interest. They did nothing to lay any groundwork or to prepare their fans for this decision. So, when news broke, the town of Philadelphia — who lives and breaths Eagles football — went into shock.
In a crisis, the goal is to get the facts out quickly to shape the story and the debate. Instead of staying ahead of the story, the Eagles were behind it. PR people like to say “If you’re not fast, you’re not relevant,” because rumors circulate in the absence of communication. People believe what they want to believe, even make things up. (In this case, there’s a report that Eagles QB Donovan McNabb is upset about this move, when he actually lobbied for the team to sign Vick.)
Last night, when fans received texts about the signing, they couldn’t know the full story because it hadn’t been explained. The Eagles did their due diligence — consulting with the highly respected Tony Dungy, the commissioner’s office and even the Humane Society, all of whom said Vick underwent a transformation … that he’s a new person. Would the masses have reacted differently, knowing that the Humane Society had given their blessing to this signing? In this morning’s paper, CEO of the Humane Society had this to say:
Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said he doesn’t expect widespread protests and sees it as a good thing that Vick wound up in Philadelphia.
“It’s a city we’ve been looking at very closely because it has a major dogfighting problem,” Pacelle said in a phone interview. “So Vick’s landing there has the potential to turn around the issue. This gives us a big boost.”
If that had been part of the initial society, would a Philadelphia newspaper headline read “Hide Your Dogs?” Maybe not.
On Twitter last night and today, NFL players expressed support for Vick. If the announcement had been more carefully executed, would this outpouring of support have influenced fans’ reactions?
By signing Vick on Tuesday and waiting until Friday to make the announcement, the Eagles took a huge PR risk. Initial reactions are mixed — certainly, there’s a lot of negativity, but a fair amount of people believe Vick paid his dues and should be allowed to play in the NFL. Some Philly fans are excited about the potential for Vick to bolster the team’s offense. All that aside, how would you rate the Eagles’ communication execution? Could they have done anything differently? Better? Or, is this such a controversial signing that no amount of PR outreach could have made a difference?