The New York Yankees have told their players to act more like Russell Wilson and not like Cam Newton in recent media training sessions. The team’s executive director of communications Jason Zillo was not a fan of the way Newton handled himself in front of the media following a tough loss in Super Bowl 50 and he wants his team to look at that as a learning tool.
“That’s something everybody should see,” Zillo said of Newton’s highly criticized interview. “It’s made more impactful when you parlay it with what the quarterback did 12 months prior in the exact same position after throwing an interception at the goal line.”
The Yankees’ media training sessions involve a myriad of exercises for the team to get used to dealing with the hounding New York media on an everyday basis. It includes videos, role playing exercises and Q&A sessions with beat reporters. The videos include 50 or 60 clips of how to handle the media the right way and wrong way by using past incidents as examples.
Zillo said the video that stands out the most to players is of Lawrence Taylor choking a reporter back in 1995.
“Things that are topical are great, but we’ve been doing it so long, now we have a treasure trove of clips,” Zillo said. “(The Taylor clip) is from 20 or 30 years ago, but those guys have never seen it. That’s a timeless piece, to see a guy lose his temper and act completely inappropriate.”
Kudos to the Yankees for the proactive approach to teaching their players about interacting with the media.
