re: Who at ESPN decided it was necessary to start telling us every athletes personal business?

Honestly. It’s because they got too big. They had to keep reporting. The 24 hour News cycle continued to grow and grow, and advertisers were selling ads later into the evening. One personal interest story here and there just kept going. Today they can make entire cycles out of semi-sports related bullshite that could have never found a niche 20 years ago.

This coupled with social media is going to threaten sports/watching sports for some time.

The NFL is doing what it has to do right now. Will they be able to turn the tide by the time the season kicks off? Only one way to find out.