Media v Performance

This study examines the relationship between media sentiment and athletic performance of 92 NFL players who played for at least 2 seasons between 2010 and 2025. Using a multimodal analysis that includes quantitative statistics and sentiment analysis of a dataset including over 17,000 articles, the project investigates how and if media framing impacts a players on field performance.

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Key Findings

• Quantitative references outnumber qualitative references by a ratio of approximately 8:1.

• High-production roles, like Quarterback, see sentiment align with stats, while less media forward positions, like Defensive Line and Offensive Line, are more narrative driven.

• Despite volume outliers, sentiment scores remain centered, following a bell curve distribution.