imPRint

And I Thought Fumbles Only Happened on the Football Field

Growing up in the Bay Area during the 1990’s, it was nearly impossible not to notice the dominance of the San Francisco 49ers. The team that donned the red and gold uniform was a perennial playoff contender and two time Super Bowl Champion. The on field success of the organization created a devoted fan base that recently had its loyalty challenged. Fans and Bay Area residents alike were shocked at the recent debacle from the 49ers, which has garnered national media interest. Ironically, what was probably the biggest fumble in the San Francisco 49ers organizational history didn’t take place on the field.

It was only a few months ago when San Francisco 49ers Director of Public Relations Kirk Reynolds was preparing his 2005-06 player media training video. Reynolds intentions were to show how damaging public relations can result from improperly handling media relations. Unfortunately for Reynolds and the 49ers, he accomplished his goal and then some.

The well documented video focused on Reynolds and his interactions in compromising situations included various slurs and derogatory comments. Once the video was leaked and made public, the organization wasted no time in removing Reynolds from his duties as Director of Public Relations. The humiliation brought on the 49ers organization as a result of this terrible mistake has been covered extensively by both sports and business media alike.

What may be surprising to many is that Reynolds had a long tenure as Director of P.R. for the franchise and was highly regarded amongst his peers in professional sports. The negative publicity that resulted from his lack of judgment serves as a healthy reminder to all public relations professionals that maintaining the image of an organization is a delicate situation that, when handled improperly, can be disastrous. It also reinforces one of the most important principles of handling public relations; there is no such thing as “off the record”.

Despite the teams on field struggles of the past two years, previous to this event fan support had remained strong. But after this PR disaster, the organization has much to do to begin reclaiming the respect of the local community.

The 49ers have taken the first steps to make amends with the community by issuing a formal apology and individually addressing specific groups who were portrayed in the video. The team has also held several diversity seminars to educate players and increase their acceptance of others.

Hopefully for the team, fans will see this media disaster as the result of the bad judgment of one individual and not the opinion of the entire organization. In the meantime winning a few football games might not be too bad of an idea. But regardless of what happens during the football season, this PR nightmare just goes to show that in sports public relations you don’t have to wear a jersey to drop the ball.

RP

posted by The Ardell Group @ 11:00 AM