Every day, we receive dozens of P.R. pitches and other assorted emails offering guests and quotes and whatever for use at PFT or on our various other platforms. This afternoon, one such email stood out.
The subject line for the message said this: “Did Colin Cowherd help 49ers draft Trey Lance?”
“I wanted to send you a clip that The Volume put out today in response to Trey Lance being drafted third overall by the San Francisco 49ers,” the message explained. “After meeting Trey Lance, Colin Cowherd texted John Lynch and raved about him. I thought this might be a fit for any of your follow-up stories on the NFL Draft.”
Then came the transcript of Cowherd’s remarks.
“So, long story short, I live in L.A.,” he said. “Trey Lance was working out in L.A., was working out in L.A. about three weeks ago for the draft. Ran into Trey Lance. Really, really impressed with him as a kid -- good size, looks you in the eye, really humble, really thoughtful. And after meeting him, it’s funny. I sent a text to a couple of GMs that I thought may have the chance to get him, one of them John Lynch. So I text John, I said ‘Hey, I just met Trey Lance . . . I don’t know what you’re doing with the number 3 pick, but . . . totally impressed, so humble, what a great kid,’ and John’s like ‘Thanks, Colin!’
“I don’t hear anything. Then after the third pick, I get a couple of fist bumps texted to me by John Lynch. So I know I had no influence, but nonetheless, it made me laugh. John’s a great guy and I actually think it’s the right pick.”
Here’s what makes this email even more amazing. Cowherd specifically admitted that he had no influence in the selection. But his P.R. team created the impression that he did.
As the 49ers tell it (and it’s they’re story and they’re sticking to it), Lance was always the guy. So nothing Cowherd said would have mattered anyway. If it’s true that Lance was always the guy.
Whether that’s the truth is something we may never know.
