Like a called play between a quarterback and a receiver, communication is fundamental to a prosperous partnership between PR professionals and their clients. And when it breaks down, it isn’t pretty.

Unfortunately for Brian Cushing, the star linebacker for the Houston Texans, and his PR agency, a lack of communication resulted in a major flag on a play originally designed to let him shine.

On May 7, 2010, the agency pitched a ‘Get to Know Brian’ campaign that offered up Cushing for media interviews and opportunities to get to know his target media better -- an obvious way to raise awareness with fans and keep him top of mind with sports reporters across the nation. However….little did the agency know that just hours later the National Football League defensive rookie of the year would be accused of using a performance enhancing substance and suspended for the first four games this coming season!

Quite a fumble in communications! Apparently caught off-guard and unprepared for the crisis, the agency was then faced with taking calls from reporters wanting interviews on substance abuse…not the meet and greet they planned for Cushing. According to recent reports, the agency passed the ball to the Texans’ spokesperson to field calls about Cushing – possibly because they were given no choice.

What happened? Could it have been:
• The interns ran the ball for the client?
• A contingency crisis communications plan was not put into place for the impending news? (The “wait and see approach” could sink your corporate and/or personal reputation.)
• “Get to Know Brian” was an offensive play assigned to or made by the agency to drum up positive PR. (At the risk of being an armchair quarterback, why not call a time-out, bench Cushing and let the situation run down the clock while abiding by the messaging and strategy put forth in a crisis communications plan?)

Who knows who is to blame in this situation – and that really isn’t the point of this frown. The key learning from this scenario centers around partner transparency. If one member of the team isn’t fully communicating with the other, then we see these kinds of budget-wasting PR blunders that cause a great deal of unnecessary reputation damage to each party involved and decreases trust among them.

Both client and PR firm benefit when they practice the fundamentals of a good partnership. Good partners talk to each other openly, even about issues that seem irrelevant, just in case. Good partners listen to each other. Good partners strategize with each other. Good partners trust each other. Good partners enjoy long, mutually beneficial relationships.

And they don’t have to resort to a “Hail Mary” to try to get a win.