ESPN’s Jenn Brown declined the offer to post for SI’s swimsuit issue. The Orlando Sentinel praises her for the decision, letting us know that Ms. Brown is no Erin Andrews.  She’s “carving her own path” and that’s a good thing. This begs the question: what is wrong with being Erin Andrews?

Just ask Andrews, who now welcomes an expanded role with ESPN that includes stints on Good Morning America thanks to her increasing fame.

By most accounts, Andrews balanced her old job well enough to avoid coming across as overbearing because of her looks. She garnered national appeal, and soon enough she was doing the Charleston dance with some guy named Maks.

Brown shouldn’t have a problem creating a fan following, but she’s making her priorities clear from the start that sports reporting is her long-term plan, not Hollywood. She’d rather interview Tony Perez than appear on PerezHilton.com.

So, Erin Andrews is a fame whore? That’s no different from every male sports columnist in the country. Paging Worldwide Wilbon. Did Kenny Mayne compromise his objectivity by doing the show? Warren Sapp? She has interest in doing things outside sports. Why does that affect her ability to work in sports? David Halberstam did general interest work as well. It didn’t affect his sports work.

Andrews purportedly has her eyes glazed by a future in entertainment. Brown was an entertainment reporter! She hosted “The Wild Side” and worked for E! News, yet she’s the focused sports nut?

Erin Andrews is doing some work for Good Morning America. So are other ESPN personalities. Josh Elliott and Hannah Storm seem to be focused.

Something in Brown’s favor is a sports background that could help resonate with otherwise unforgiving fans who will criticize everything from interview delivery to how many centimeters of a right shoulder are showing. (Are they supposed to wear parkas?)

As Brown became a four-year letterman and skilled base-stealer for Florida softball, mother Rita has trained more than 25 USA National Team gymnasts since 1988. That pedigree must carry some weight for Brown when interviewing athletes who insist journalists don’t understand what it’s really like to play.

Yes, Brown was an athlete in college. Since when is this a marker of journalistic credibility? Her softball career qualifies her more than Andrews having nearly ten years of experience working as a sports reporter?

Erin Andrews’ critics have been subtle, so I’ll be blunt. The criticism says more about the critic than the subject. It says either “I’m threatened by an attractive woman in a professional context” or “I’m jealous that a woman can be attractive in a professional context.” Take a stand. Say what you mean “She’s stupid, unprofessional and reliant on her looks” and provide some tangible evidence from her job performance to support it (which I don’t think exists), or shut up. The euphemisms and subtle barbs are becoming unseemly and absurd.