One of the major subplots in the ESPN-NFL equity deal is how the WorldWide Leader in Sports will now cover the league that has a 10% equity stake in the network.

ESPN has always had to walk the tightrope between its journalistic best practices and its business best practices. In recent years, there has been the perception that ESPN has moved more and more towards entertainment and deemphasized seeking truth on the journalism side. The promotion of the likes of Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee and the cancellation of Outside the Lines are just two examples.

It’s not just a recent phenomenon, though. It’s a delicate dance that goes back years all the way through the scripted drama Playmakers, that lasted one season thanks largely to the influence of the NFL, and ESPN backing out of the powerful League of Denial PBS special on NFL concussions. Then there was the lawsuit filed from former NFL media reporter Jim Trotter regarding his concerns working for the league, specifically around asking a question to Roger Goodell about the league’s lack of diversity. That lawsuit was eventually settled.

There’s nobody in sports that can play the influence game quite like the NFL, and now that they own 10% of ESPN, skepticism about the network’s ability to cover the league fairly is freely being expressed from the likes of David Samson and former SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick.

It’s those latter comments from Patrick that caught the eye of one of ESPN’s current top reporters, Don Van Natta Jr.

Van Natta is one of many straight-laced journalists that ESPN still employs. And he along with Kalyn Kahler have been on top of a burgeoning scandal surrounding the NFLPA and former executive director Lloyd Howell.

In a post on social media, Van Natta responded to critical comments from Patrick, saying that ESPN was already in bed with the NFL given their longstanding rights relationship and insinuated they are already looking the other way when it comes to negative stories about the league.

“The journalist in me … would point out the conflict of interest,” Patrick said Wednesday on his radio show. “But ESPN can’t be any further in bed with the NFL when it comes to their coverage. Are they going to look the other way with whatever negative story comes up? They’ve probably already done that.”

Van Natta did not hold back in addressing Patrick.

“The journalist in me…”

“I don’t know how deep ESPN went on the mess at the NFLPA. I know Florio did, a couple of people did…”

Imagine saying “the journalist in me” and then failing Journalism 101:https://t.co/aFBs5TEJTq

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) August 7, 2025

“Dan, @kalynkahler and I did a run of exclusive reporting on the NFLPA story that led directly to Lloyd Howell’s resignation: A confidentiality agreement, the Carlyle Group, strip club receipts. Do your homework before you malign your ex-colleagues. I’m embarrassed for you,” he said. “Imagine saying ‘the journalist in me’ and then failing Journalism 101,” he added in another reply.

When replying to those on social media who pointed out that his reporting was about the NFLPA and not the league, Van Natta defended his body of work at ESPN.

I am not going to tick off the dozens of investigative stories I have done about the NFL since joining ESPN in 2012. Look them up.

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) August 7, 2025

Don Van Natta Jr. is one of the most accomplished reporters in print journalism. He is a multiple time Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author that has worked at ESPN since 2012. Before that, he was an investigative journalist at the New York Times and Miami Herald. You can understand why he would take Patrick’s comments personally given he and Kahler have relentlessly covered the NFLPA meltdown this month along with Pablo Torre and Mike Florio.

The ESPN-NFL relationship is tighter than ever before as the two companies are now fully intertwined. Observers and watchdogs will no doubt be looking for examples of where ESPN may show favorable treatment to the NFL in the weeks, months, and years ahead. And it won’t be just about what ESPN does cover, it’s about what they won’t cover as well.

The perception will persist that ESPN and the NFL are one and the same. With the equity deal now announced, that will be unavoidable moving forward. Ultimately, it will be up to the journalists at ESPN like Don Van Natta Jr. to continue to prove skeptics like Dan Patrick wrong in their dedicated coverage towards the NFL.