'The Athletic' Put Out A Pointless Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson Exposé, Which Did Nothing For Sports
The Athletic was roasted on social media for pointless story
When The New York Times shelled out $550 million for The Athletic in January 2022, it surely expected Big J journalism, not a masterclass in missing the point. Instead, The Grey Lady has a site that chases weeks-old gossip over relevant sports news.
The Athletic … What Were You Thinking?
Nothing screams Big J like OutKick, where we dive into sports and America with gusto.
So, let’s dissect this.
On a jam-packed sports weekend, The Athletic dropped an "in-depth" piece on new UNC football coach Bill Belichick’s relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson. They made Belichick and Hudson’s romance their "white whale," publishing "Finding Jordon Hudson" or "What a 573.5-Mile New England Road Trip Reveals About Bill Belichick’s Girlfriend."
Bill Belichick & Jordon Hudson - hunted by journalists. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
The Athletic reporter Brendan Marks went on a 34-hour, 573.5-mile odyssey to unmask Belichick’s mysterious girlfriend.
The result? Hudson dabbles in henna tattoos and Marks chatted with Dougie Freeman, "celebrity hairstylist and owner of West End Salon & Spa in Provincetown," adding no breadcrumbs of a potential new fold in this discussion. At least when reporter Pablo Torre stalked the pair, he made up some breaking news about UNC acting dodgy about the potential of welcoming Hudson and 73-year-old Belichick.
Marks went as far as sneaking past Bill Belichick's residential security and reaching the doorstep to ask the famed football coach a question. Belichick said nothing.
So that's it. The Athletic served its paying customers an inflated Doritos bag with three unseasoned chips, and keeps shoving ‘Subscribe Now’ pop-up ads in their faces to "preserve journalism."
Readers roasted them. "I really can’t believe this is still a story," one fumed on X.
Another jabbed, "The less important the story, the harder The Athletic goes after it."
Hudson and Belichick are the most talked about couple in football. (Getty Images)
"What are we doing here? It’s the slow period before football season, but come on…"
Meanwhile, a Minnesota state high school male softball pitcher won a girls’ championship, sparking more debates about fairness in women’s sports with the issue of trans inclusion looming.
The Athletic? Crickets.
OutKick: Reporting Truth
Look, we might catch flak for writing about a meaningless story.
But democracy dies in boredom, and it’s worth reminding folks that big-time media in metropolitan cities aren’t driving the real conversations. We also tackle big stories, like trans athlete Marissa Rothenberger, whom OutKick’s Amber Harding Snyder watched compete over the weekend.
AHS vs. Brendan Marks? We’ll take the OutKick reporter any day.
Thanks for reading OutKick, folks.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela