Bart Scott’s war with the local media intensified yesterday when the Jets linebacker threatened to punch a reporter for taking a picture of him as he was exiting the locker room.
Scott had to be held back by a team official while barking at Dan Leberfeld, who works for the website Jets Confidential and Sirius XM Radio, after Leberfeld snapped photos with his phone of Scott chatting with a female reporter.
Scott said he felt he was being provoked by Leberfeld, who had taken photos of Scott speaking to a different woman reporter during Wednesday’s media session. Leberfeld told Yahoo! Sports he did so as part of his research for a story on Scott’s media boycott that began in training camp.
As reporters and players watched, Scott told Leberfeld to “get a life” and then threatened to “smack the s— out of you!” When Leberfeld responded that he would sue, Scott called him a “b—h-a– mother——” as the team official gently pushed him toward the exit.
The Jets released a statement yesterday saying they are looking into the incident. The NFL said it is a club matter and would not be investigated by the league.
“We work hard to foster an appropriate working environment,” the Jets said in the statement. “We regret this incident occurred and are reviewing the matter.”
Leberfeld told The Associated Press he never actually felt physically threatened.
“I don’t think a player would be that stupid,” he said. “A player would be suspended or have legal issues, so I don’t think a player would ever do that.”
Scott has been at odds with local reporters for much of his three-year stint with the Jets, and yesterday was just the latest flareup.
Scott was fined $10,000 by the team for making an obscene gesture at a Post photographer in the locker room last January as the Jets were clearing out their lockersafter the final game of the season.
Scott is boycotting the media this season — he mistakenly characterized it as “a media mutiny” — because he said he is upset at the Jets being described as a circus by numerous outlets in the wake of the Tim Tebow trade and their mistake-filled preseason.