ESPN is still sticking to its wild report that 49ers owner Jed York was chilling in Australia during the Week 1 International Game against the Rams, even though local beat writers are raising all sorts of eyebrows about it. This whole thing kicked off a couple weeks ago when Adam Schefter dropped the bombshell that York, the principal owner, was in the “land down under” for that season opener, but didn’t even show up to the actual game. Remember, this was all happening just a month after Ohio police arrested York in a prostitution sting, and everyone was waiting to see what kind of league punishment was coming his way.
Australia? Really?
That initial report had some Niners reporters, like San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami, scratching their heads. Kawakami straight up said the 49ers people he talked to never saw York in Australia. It was a bizarre claim then, and it’s even more bizarre now that the Worldwide Leader is doubling down. When Nick Wagoner wrote about York’s six-game suspension, he included Schefter’s original reporting, specifying that York was, in fact, in Melbourne during that Week 1 game. Matt Barrows from The Athletic even quipped on a podcast that York probably wasn’t “in Perth, or…snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef.” No, ESPN says he was right there in Melbourne, pretty close to the team he supposedly wanted to avoid distracting.
The Suspension Gets a Whole New Spin
Here’s where it gets really murky: the debate over Schefter’s report suddenly has way more weight. The NFL officially said York’s six-game suspension includes games that have already happened because he was “away from the team” during those times. But “away from the team” suddenly means something different if you’re talking about being in Melbourne, which is where the game was played, versus being, say, back in the United States. Melbourne isn’t just the stadium, sure, but it’s a whole lot closer than where most 49ers fans were watching. The NFL’s suspension policy for owners is pretty strict, too. They can’t be at games, can’t be in any team facilities, and can’t represent the team at any club or league event. They put these same rules on Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and the late Colts owner Jim Irsay. If York was truly in Melbourne, he would’ve had to make himself practically invisible before, during, and after that game. Six weeks after the initial arrest, this whole situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder, with more questions than answers about where the owner of the 49ers actually was when he was supposedly “away” from his team.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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