“An all-time NBA great committing a sex crime that resulted in the birth of a boy who is now in the NFL would seem like the kind of thing the media would be all over. Why is this story being thoroughly ignored?” asked The Fanhouse‘s Michael David Smith last Friday. Presto! ESPN.com’s Jemele Hill is all too happy to hop on the Mailman bashing bandwagon, writing “Roger Clemens’ alleged seedy indiscretions — including a possible sexual relationship with a 15-year-old — are nothing compared to what Malone has done. Malone reportedly impregnated Demetrius Bell’s mother when she was 13 and he was a sophomore at Louisiana Tech. Malone is lucky Chris Hansen wasn’t around and he didn’t have to answer to the authorities.”

Hill points out that Malone, who refused to acknowledge Bell or financially support the boy until compelled to do so by an out of court settlement, grew up fatherless himself.  It’s awfully tough to find anything funny about this tale (and I don’t think the Chris Hansen line does the trick -man, talk about played out) but aside from a promising NFL career, Bell can console himself knowing there has never been any suggestion he’s related to Mark Eaton.