Chris Petersen, CBS Sports mixed up in fake quote about SEC
By Keith Farner
Published:
A quote attributed to Washington coach Chris Petersen circulated widely last week, including an exchange on the “SEC on CBS” broadcast of the Alabama-Tennessee game.
The problem? He never actually said it. The fake quote went like this: “If we had Alabama’s schedule, we’d be undefeated.”
A report from the Seattle Times suggested that it was circulated by the Twitter account @CFBKings, and it’s since been deleted. The Times reported that the entire quote was fabricated like this:
“If we had Alabama’s schedule, we would be 7-0 right now. But, I’d much rather have our 5-2 record while playing real competition than to be 7-0 playing teams like Arkansas and Louisiana every week.”
A spokesman for CBS declined comment to the Times this week.
The exchange between Gary Danielson and Brad Nessler appeared in the second quarter and it was related to Alabama’s schedule.
“It’s been a talking point everywhere,” Danielson said. “Even recently, Chris Petersen said: ‘If we had Alabama’s schedule, we’d be undefeated.’ Well, if Alabama played Washington’s schedule, they’d be undefeated too.”
“Yes, they would,” Nessler added.
The Times later added that Petersen tries to avoid controversy, and it referred to his unintentional spat last year with ESPN about late-night kickoffs.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
