‘Spoiled’ reporter ripped after locker room ambush

Tampa Bay NFL player Giovani Bernard’s testy exchange with reporters after a costly mistake has been endorsed by NBA star Kevin Durant.

A second-half meltdown saw AFC North-leading Cincinnati storm back for a 34-23 victory over the Buccaneers.

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The collapse started when a fake punt went awry and Bernard fumbled the ball.

After being up 17-10, Tampa saw that lead turn into a 17 point deficit before Tom Brady added a consolation score in the final minutes.

As you can imagine Bernard, 31, was in no mood to delve deeper into his mistake with reporters in the locker room after the loss.

Bernard started to make his way to the door when reporters started hounding him with questions.

He responded by saying that this was the first time reporters wanted to talk to him all season.

A journalist, in response to his complaint, said: “What have you done for us to talk to you about all year?”

Bernard asked if he could go and see his family outside before giving in and taking questions, albeit with quotes that would be virtually unusable.

Asked if it was a fake punt, Bernard said: “I don’t know. It was my fault. That’s it.”

Then as he was peppered with more questions, Bernard cut them off.

“It’s my fault. It’s on me,” Bernard said.

“That’s something I did wrong. And that’s all. It was all on me. Yep, No.25 out there, that was me. I was the one that did it. It was just me. I messed up.”

Durant spoke up in defence of Bernard as did other journalists, commentators and fans on social media, with the Nets star saying: “Giovani handled this like a true pro.”

“We can survive without spoiled, entitled clickbait media… there are some good people who simply love to cover the sport,” he wrote when asked where sports would be without media coverage.

At 6-8, the Bucs are the lone team in their division with a chance to finish the regular season with a winning record. Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans — all 5-9 — remain in the hunt for the division title and a playoff berth.

After playing at Arizona next Monday (AEDT), Tampa Bay closes out the season with games against the Panthers, who beat the Bucs earlier this year, and the Falcons.

“We have three games left to try and save our season,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said.

Brady was 30 of 44 for 312 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions as he lost for the first time in his 23-year career after leading by at least 17 points. He entered 89-0 in those games.

“We’ve got a huge game coming up, so I know we keep saying it but it’s reality, we’ve got to go make it better,” Brady said.

Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David declined to talk in the sullen Bucs locker room.

Teammate Devin White said the Bucs’ dominant first half is something to build on.

“You seen what kind of performance we can do,” the linebacker said.

“If we can put together those for four quarters, man, we’re one of the best teams in this thing. I truly believe that.”

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